That is the provocative question posed in a recent piece by Gwynne Dyer. As published in the New Zealand Herald, Mr. Dyer directly equates today’s environmental destruction with government sponsored mass killings of the previous century: There was no law against genocide in the early 1940s; it became an internationally recognised crime only after the … Continue reading »
Posted in June 2012 …
Anti-Mining Protests Around the World- Focus on Peru- May-June Update
For earlier stories on anti-mining protests around the world, see here. Getting away from the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference means turning to one of the other crucial issues this blog is highlighting: Anti-mining protests. There were a number of new and ongoing anti-mining protests around the world (New Zealand, Australia [and at later protests, they … Continue reading »
Rio+20 Report Card
The Rio+20 Conference has come and gone. Lots of analysis will go into figuring out what went right and what went wrong about the Conference. This is a first pass at giving grades to different aspects of the outcome. I’ll reassess in a couple months, particularly on those aspects which might see some significant movement…or … Continue reading »
Rio+20: The Definitive Twitter History of the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference
Below is a set of twitter comments I culled from the past few days. I tried to get as many different perspectives as possible and also highlighted some of the secondary issues (technology, weather) to give a wider feel for the official conference. Comments come from diplomats, observers, activists, journalists, and academics. I know I’ve … Continue reading »
Rio+20 Countdown Review: The Impacts of the Identity Crisis at Rio+20
June 20, 2012, the Rio+20 Conference opened with a gavel rap from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon who declared that the Rio+20 Conference was a “beginning, not an end.” Having said that, for the hundreds of negotiators who had hammered out the proposed outcome document, that gavel was the culmination of a lot of work. … Continue reading »
Rio+20 Outcome Text In A Single Picture
Want to get an idea of what the Rio+20 text has in it but don’t want to read all 50 pages (source: The Guardian). Thanks to wordle.net, I made this handy word cloud. Recognize, support, reaffirm, cooperation are all important words in the text. Can you find words like commit, agree, affirm, pledge, etc.? Compare … Continue reading »
Rio+20 Countdown: Who is to blame for the weak text at Rio+20?
This is Part 25 (and last) of a series of blog posts leading up to the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 20-22. The full series is available here. ———————————————————————————————————————————– This post isn’t going to win me any friends…. Brazilian Delegation Celebrating Completion of Proposed Rio+20 Declaration Text. Source: IISD … Continue reading »
Rio+20 Countdown: Has Civil Society Ever Met an Environmental Agreement they Liked?
This is Part 24 of a series of blog posts leading up to the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 20-22. The full series is available here. ———————————————————————————————————————————– Today a finalized draft was presented and officially closed before high level meetings begin June 20, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro. Changes … Continue reading »
Rio+20 Countdown: Sustainable Development Goals Cannot Wait
This is Part 23 of a series of blog posts leading up to the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 20-22. The full series is available here. ———————————————————————————————————————————– Today was a busy day and a long night of negotiations (still in a state of limbo while I am writing) and … Continue reading »
Rio+20 Countdown: #endfossilfuelsubsidies Twitter Campaign Raises Profile
This is Part 22 of a series of blog posts leading up to the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 20-22. The full series is available here. ————————————————————————————————————————————— No time for a long post because my attention is elsewhere, but the #EndFossilFuelSubsidies campaign is certainly deserving of a quick post. … Continue reading »
