Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace November 2011

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2012 UNConference onSustainable Development: Rio+20

bySuzanne Golas, CSJP

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

June 2012 will mark the twentieth an-niversary of the “Earth Summit” held

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Most of us may have some memory of that event, which energized people worldwide. The UN sponsored conference was formally known as the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development. As many as 178 countries were represented, most by their heads of state. Thousands of NGOs attended along with environmental ad-vocates, educators, religious leaders, en-tertainers, artists and concerned citizens. They wanted their voices heard. Many remember when the Dalai Lama said, “Now the time has come to be aware of the importance of nature, the impor-tance of our globe. You see, one day, we might find all living things on this planet—including human be-ings—are doomed.”

WHAT IS RIO+20?

The conference produced an ambitious plan of action, “Agenda 21.” The plan included concrete strategies that would con-tribute to sustainable development, which was most frequently defined as “develop-ment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Twenty years have passed since that en-thusiastic commitment to a healthier planet. Some goals have been accomplished. However, unfortunately, many expectations have not been realized. Furthermore, some threats to the environment, especially global warming are now directly attacking the very

systems that sustain life on Earth. The state of Earth today reminds us of the Dalai Lama’s quote of twenty years ago.

In June, government leaders, NGOs, UN agencies and leaders from various branches of society will return to Rio de Janeiro for the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Devel-opment referred to as Rio+20. In a recent meeting with NGOs, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon identified sustainable development and the upcoming Rio+20 as the number one priority on his agenda. What are the successes

and what are the failures that must be faced as we review development of the past twenty years? What are the important decisions and commitments we must make to preserve life on the Earth?

Sustainable develop-ment is understood as integrating three interde-pendent and re-enforcing pillars – environmental protection, social develop-ment and economic de-velopment. However, in the past twenty years, the

economic factor has dominated environmental protection and social development. In popular language, we have all heard the comment, “It’s all about money.” When world leaders and citizens meet in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 they will be addressing this imbalance and lack of integration.

CSJPs will note that some specific key is-sues for Rio +20 are issues highlighted in our recent Chapters - lack of clean water, increas-ing global warming and the effect of these problems especially on the poor.

THE DEEPER ROOTS

Preparations for Rio+20 coincide with a growing awareness that the environmental and poverty crises have deeper roots related to how we humans understand and define our-selves and the natural world in which we live.

UN statements and discussions are increasingly speaking to these deeper roots.

In a recent session, the UN General Assembly dis-cussed a Report of the Secretary General entitled “Harmony With Nature,” in which BanKi-moon provided an “overview of how the lifestyle of the twenty-first century, through its consumption and production patterns, has severely affected Earth’s car-rying capacity, and how human behavior has been the result of a fundamental failure to recognize that human beings are an inseparable part of nature, and that we can-not damage it without severely damaging ourselves….all things are interconnected and nothing…occurs in isola-tion.”

A position paper submitted by NGOs, including the CSJPs, as input for the Rio+20 negotiation document states: “An unsustainable and unjust model of devel-opment prevails. It commodifies and exhausts Earth’s resources and relies heavily on unequal trade liberaliza-tion which favors developed countries and transnational corporations over people, healthy ecosystems, and the needs of present and future generations….Why this failure when the international community has the tech-nological expertise, a clearer, scientifically-based under-standing of Earth as a living system of interdependent, interrelated components of which humans are a part, and the financial resources to explore and implement more sustainable modes of development?”

One of the two major “umbrella” topics for Rio+20 is the “Green Economy.” While there are different defini-tions of the “Green Economy,” there is a growing sense that an economic system, such as the present dominant model, that assumes infinite growth and infinite resourc-es is not sustainable. It would require three planet Earths for the whole world to have the same standard of living as the United States and much of Europe. Such a system is in conflict with an understanding of Earth as a “system of interdependent, interrelated components of which humans are a part.”

THE CSJP CONNECTIONFor over twenty years, we CSJPs have been have

been deepening our understanding of our intercon-nectedness with the entire community of life, while also addressing specific issues such as climate change, water and poverty.

In our 1990 Chapter “Statement of Direction” we said, “Our charism of peace through justice calls us to respond more fully to the integrity of creation….We believe that the growing understanding of our in-terrelatedness with all of creation calls us to a deeper commitment to our mission of peacemaking…Ours is a partnership rather than a domination over all of creation.” And at our 2002 Chapter, as we addressed the issue of water, we acknowledged that “As peace-makers, we value Earth as our teacher.”

In our 2008 “Seeds of Peace: Care of Creation and Climate Change” commitment, we said, “We are committed to a spirituality of peacemaking which compels us to live in right relationship with the entire community of life. Recognizing the interdependence of all life, we count among those that are poor all Earth’s creatures whose lives are threatened or dimin-ished.”

Through prayer, contemplation, learning and action, we have been deepening a spirituality that recognizes our profound relationship with all life and the presence of the Spirit of God at the heart of these relationships. While not usually defined in terms of a spirituality, a similar understanding of Earth is gradu-ally emerging at the UN. Rio+20 is an opportunity for CSJPs, along with others, to contribute to this new awareness and its implications for economic and so-cial development and protection of the environment.

As announced in the August Leadership Team Update, I am, during this year, devoting additional time and energy to our ministry at the United Na-tions and less to WATERSPIRIT. Developments at the UN in preparation for Rio+20 as presented above and their connection with CSJP concerns, priorities and focus areas have led to this shift. This decision was reached through serious discussion and reflection with the Leadership Team. Concerns about WATER-SPIRIT and its continuing vitality and growth were addressed. As director, I will continue to generally oversee activities at WATERSPIRIT. For this year, Jean-Marie Donohue, who has served WATERSPIR-IT’s mission part-time, will be added as a full time staff member to insure attention to details and further development of programs and activities.

In the months to come, you will be receiving regu-lar updates on the UN and Rio+20 and recommenda-tions for ways in which you can be involved.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the meeting with NGOs