Initial Draft for Rio+20 Outcome a Solid Beginning, Says Conference Head

NEW YORK, 12 January — The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Sha Zukang, today welcomed the publication of the first draft of recommendations titled, “The Future We Want”, that will form the basis for negotiations by countries in the lead-up to the Rio+20 meeting in Brazil in June this year.

“The draft represents an excellent starting point which allows Member States latitude and options in negotiations,” Mr. Sha said.  “It reaffirms many priority areas identified during the preparatory meetings.  I believe the draft captures the state of play in intergovernmental discussions so far and will help negotiators move toward an action-oriented outcome in Rio.”

The 19-page “zero draft” was based on more than 6,000 pages of submissions from Member States, international organizations and civil society groups in an open, transparent and inclusive process spanning months.

The process of improving the zero draft will begin with an initial two-day negotiating round in New York on 25-27 January, followed by four more rounds in March, April/May and June.  Countries will seek to share common ground on a range of cross-cutting priorities such as food security, water, energy, cities, green jobs-social inclusion, oceans, seas and small island developing states, natural disasters, climate change, forests and biodiversity, land degradation and desertification, mountains, chemicals and waste, sustainable consumption and production, education, and gender equality.

The zero draft, which takes its name from the United Nations campaign for Rio+20:  The Future We Want, also proposes a time frame to devise a set of sustainable development goals that reflect a balanced treatment of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development.  One goal, on universal access to energy, has been proposed in the draft and is expected to set the example for other goals to follow.

The Rio+20 conference, coming 20 years after the landmark 1992 Earth Summit, will take place in Rio de Janeiro between 20 and 22 June.  World leaders, along with thousands of participants from the private sector and non-governmental groups, are expected to come together to shape ways to reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet.

For more information on the Rio+20 Conference, visit:  www.uncsd2012.org.

For media information, contact:  Dan Shepard, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.:  +1 212 963 9495, e-mail:  shepard@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record