June 19, was the final
day for the informal consultations, A plenary session
of Rio+20 negotiators June 19 endorsed by consensus
a document that they say will pave the way for new sustainable development
goals and lead to a strengthening of the United Nations' capacity to deal with
global environmental concerns. The document will be presented to political
leaders, who begin three days of discussions June 20.
Still
there are loads of concerns on the texts expressed by Major Groups and the
civil society, some of them are
Absence of the "Green Jobs" by Children and Youth, absence of "Appointing a High Commissioner for the future generation" by Children and Youth and several other major groups, lack of political will for Sustainable Development, no clear picture on Finance and Technology Transfer by developing country, loopholes in the Civil Society and Major Group Participation are some of the concerns raised by Major Groups and several member states. Bolivian Delegate raised some the serious questions about the texts, and they could not agree with the text.
Absence of the "Green Jobs" by Children and Youth, absence of "Appointing a High Commissioner for the future generation" by Children and Youth and several other major groups, lack of political will for Sustainable Development, no clear picture on Finance and Technology Transfer by developing country, loopholes in the Civil Society and Major Group Participation are some of the concerns raised by Major Groups and several member states. Bolivian Delegate raised some the serious questions about the texts, and they could not agree with the text.
Closing Plenary of the In-formals
Closing Plenary of the In-formals
Presenting the "Youth Statement of Sri lankan Youth for Rio+20" to one of the Youth Delegate from Brazil
Attended a side event organized by tcktcktck on “Date With the History”, a 17-year-old Brittany Trilford from Wellington, New Zealand, has travelled a great distance to ‘speak truth to power’ at Rio+20, hoping to inspire bold and urgent action from Heads of State gathering for the anniversary Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday June 20th. She will address the Summit just prior to its opening at 09h55 local time, in the wake of six months of negotiations that have resulted in unambitious text for leaders to consider at the conference.
Brittany, in her final year at school, has won the global “Date With History” youth video speech contest. The contest was open to young people from all walks of life around the world aged 13-30, to demand action on sustainability by leaders and decision-makers. Entries from every corner of the planet were voted on by the online public to elicit regional finalists through the contest website. More than 83,000 views and votes ended with 22 finalists.
In addition to addressing over 130 world leaders, Brittany has already silenced large gatherings of decision makers, including over 300 legislators here in Rio from around the world at the first Global Legislators Forum on June 16, and over 1,000 business leaders when she told the closing plenary of the Corporate Sustainability Forum, “Please ask yourselves why you are here. Are you here to save face, or to save us?”
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, said “Hundreds recorded moving speeches, tens of thousands voted [in the Date With History contest]. I am deeply encouraged to see that leaders of my era will be replaced in future by these true global citizens. Brittany now has the responsibility to represent all who stand with her with a vision for a brighter future. She can inspire decision makers in Rio who can make a difference now to ensure a better world becomes reality.”
Kelly Rigg, Executive Director of Global Campaign for Climate Action, organizers of the contest says “With youth accounting for 3 billion of the world’s population, it is critical that young people from all walks of life are engaged in influencing global decision-making on sustainability now – they will live with the building blocks or the broken promises, depending on the choices leaders make.”
Brittany’s speech was selected from the finalist gallery by a diverse jury which included more than a dozen respected youth leaders from around the world,
The winner, Brittany, sees the enormity of the opportunity she has been afforded. She comments “I entered ‘Date With History’ to show solidarity with youth around the world, demanding that our leaders remember we are all their children and they owe us a fighting chance at a future we want to inherit. They need to act now so that we have a bright future, free from fear. I feel honoured to take up my obligation to stand up and be counted as one of my generation and the wisdom of youth at Rio+20.”
Severn Suzuki, who made a moving speech at the 1992 Earth Summit at the age of twelve and is still remembered as the ‘girl who silenced the world for five minutes’, was the inspiration for and a juror in the contest. Her advice to Brittany is: “Don't be afraid to speak the truth on the world stage. More than ever, we need the voice of youth to cut through our justification of why we continue to value profit more than peoples' health, our ecosystems' sustainability, and justice for the future. Remember you are there representing those who go unheard. And speak what we all know, deep down, to be true.”
Date with the History
No comments:
Post a Comment