Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

President Sarkozy's visit to Lula on 6 and 7 September, saw him expresing the French support to the Rio +20 Earth summit. "La France soutient pleinement le souhait du Brésil d’organiser en 2012 un nouveau sommet de la Terre, 20 ans après le premier Sommet qui s’était déjà tenu à Rio de Janeiro. Ce nouveau sommet pourra constituer une occasion privilégiée pour réaliser des progrès décisifs et nécessaires en matière de gouvernance internationale de l’environnement". "France fully supports the desire of Brazil to organize in 2012 a new Earth Summit, 20 years after the first Summit had been held in Rio de Janeiro. This new peak may be an ideal opportunity to make decisive and necessary progress for international governance of the environment. " A copy of the full text is downloadable at the www.earthsummit2012.org

As it becomes clearer that a new Summit will focus on the Green Economy International Sustainable Development Governance and Environment and Human Insecurity issues Brussels holds the first conference to explore the agenda. Full conference details can be downloadable from www.earthsummit2012.org organised by the European Economic and Social Committee and Stakeholder Forum the event an impressive list of speakers. The event being held proir to the UN General Assembly debate on Rio+20 offers a great chance for governemnts to listen to views before the debate. One of the key elephants in the room is what role will the Summit have for climate change. After all the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is a daughter of Rio. Until everyone recovers from Copenhagen and looks at the landscape it will be difficult to say. My hunch though is that it will play a significant role.