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25 June 2012 | News | Peoples’ Summit in Rio+20 | Climate Justice and Energy
Condemned Rio+20
Friends of the Earth International’s opinions after UN Conference on Sustainable Development
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Friends of the Earth International strongly condemned world leaders for selling out people and the planet in their Rio+20 declaration which falls way short of the action needed to tackle the planetary crisis we face, and does not include any of the real solutions demanded by the people at the alternative Peoples Summit.
According to Friends of the Earth International, the lack of political will from governments is rooted in the undue influence of corporations over governments and UN institutions. But pressure from civil society groups and movements and developing countries prevented world leaders from agreeing an even worse Rio+20 declaration that would have taken the world further backwards than we were twenty years ago.
“Once again corporate polluters have held UN decision-making hostage to furthering their economic interests, at the expense of peoples wellbeing and the planet. But real solutions to the crises exist and were presented by the alternative Peoples Summit. They include economic justice, climate justice, and food sovereignty,“ said Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International.
Friends of the Earth International has been a key player in the People’s Summit – an alternative space independent from the UN Summit supported by over 200 civil society groupings who have worked together over the past nine days to generate ideas for the change needed to tackle the crisis we face.
“Friends of the Earth International and our allied social movements will keep fighting the corporate capture of the UN which is stopping our governments from listening to the voices of the 99 percent of the people. These voices include not only the Peoples Summit voices here in Rio but also the voices of the Occupy and Indignados movements around the world,” said Lucia Ortiz, Economic Justice International Program Coordinator at Friends of the Earth International.
“Peoples power is the solution to the crises we are facing. The alternative Peoples Summit in Rio was an example of peoples voices uniting to demand real solutions. We need to build on our strengths and organise ourselves to resist corporate power, false solutions, and reclaim our democracies and UN decision-making” said Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International coordinator of the Forest and Biodiversity Program.
Source: Friends of the Earth International’s communications team
