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In this Issue

- Rapid Urbanization - 2nd Intersessional Meeting

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- Portuguese Website Launched- Compilation Document- Major Groups Update

- Upcoming Events Page 2

Rio+20: Making it Happen

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Newsletter of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development30 November 2011, Volume 2, Issue 22

Turkmenistan will also take part in Rio+20. We see it as a landmark event in the process

of further progress towards sustainable development

objectives and we intend to announce a number of

proposals at this forum. - President of TURKMENISTAN Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov

www.uncsd2012.org

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Send us feedbackuncsd2012@un.org

Rapid Urbanization and Sustainable CitiesIt is now clear that urbanization and sustainable cities will be a key part of the Rio+20 agenda. The issue of how to create more sustainable cities is creeping higher on the international agenda. The focus on cities is being driven by a number of factors: the dramatic economic growth of many emerging economies; the conse-quent rapid increase in urban-rural migra-tion; the new focus on how to grow a green economy; and finally, the likely impacts of climate variability, namely water scarcity or flooding, on cities.

Cities are at the nexus of the development dialogue because cities are where the majority of the people on the planet live, work, raise families and educate their children. Experts are now considering what a set of sustainable development goals for cities might look like. Some of the most urgent pressures that cities are under are as follows:

Growing population pressures. On 31 October 2011, UN announced the global population had reached 7 billion people. By 2030, 60% of global population will live in cities, up from 50% in 2008, or an increase of approximately 800 million people in 20 years. Cities of China and India will account for 40% of global urban population growth in 2005-2025 according to Urban Agglomerations (2007), a report issued by UNDESA.

Water and sanitation: infrastructure challenge for developing countries. Most water/sanitation systems are designed for linear supply and disposal with no re-use. These infrastructure based systems are extraor-dinarily resource intensive and, as a result, are unaffordable to 2/3 of the cities in the world.

Sustainable transport options. The challenge for cities is how to develop high quality infrastructure for mass transit and to persuade citizens to use it. Additonally, encouraging citizens to adopt non-motorized transport -- walking and biking is also a challenge. The challenge for urban planners is how to step back from uncontrolled motorization and how to reduce the high numbers of fatalities and injuries through enhanced road safety programmes.

Resilience to disasters is a growing problem. Risk management is becoming a major priority for city govern-ments because of regional climate change impacts, including drought, extreme heat events and flooding. An increase of potentially violent or dangerous weather events has the greatest implications for those residing in poor quality housing, which is frequently located in flood-prone or geologically unstable zones.

In April 2011, the Twenty-third Session of the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT met in Nairobi, Kenya, where it called for new ways of addressing the challenges of rapid urbanization facing many countries in the world. Recently, UN-DESA also published on its website the Shangha Manual - Towards Sustainable Urban Development in the 21st Century. It contains many examples of pratical innovative solutions for sustainable urban development. Read more on sustainable cities at www.un.org/en/sustainablefuture/cities.shtml

Rio+20 Second Intersessional Meeting15-16 December 2011, UN Headquarters, New York – In a couple of weeks, Member States will gather in New York for the 2nd Intersessional Meeting of Rio+20. The two day meeting will focus on the compilation document and the structure and format of the outcome document. The first day, participants will discuss “Compilation document: comments and guidance for the zero draft outcome document,” and on the second day, they will discuss “Structure and format of the zero draft of the outcome document.”

At the opening session, Conference Secretary-General Sha Zukang will introduce the compilation document to delegates, followed by statements from political groups including the European Union and the Group of 77 and China.

Based on a call for submissions to contributions to the compilation document, with the 1 November 2011 deadline, Members States and other stakeholders submitted over 600 contributions to this process. These will serve as a basis for the preparation of zero draft outcome document. More information on the 2nd Intersessional Meeting can be found at www.uncsd20102.org

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AAs s Rio+20 fast appro As the months draw near to June and the Conference fast approaches, many are looking forward with great expecta-tions to the outcome docu-

ment. We will continue to use this newsletter to highlight

some of the challenges emerging for Rio+20 to

address, besides the Confer-ence themes and objective.

The Asia-Pacific region is urbanizing rapidly. (UN Photo/Kibae Park)

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Upcoming Events

Nikhil Chandavarkar (left) addressing a group of Swedish Parliamentarians. With him is Ambassador Staffan Tillander of Sweden (Photo UN-DESA)

Rio+20 Regional Preparatory Meeting for ECE Region 1 - 2 December 2011Geneva, Switzerland[more information]

High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development7 - 8 December 2011New York, USA[more information]

Launch of the UNEP report “the Green Economy in a Blue World”9 December 2011[more information]

Eye on Earth Summit12 - 15 December 2011Abu Dhabi, UAE[more information]

Regional Workshop on Trade and Environment, ESCWA and partners15 - 16 December 2011Beirut, Lebanon[more information]

Sustainable Environmental Manag-ment in Urban Asia15 - 16 December 2011Singapore [more information]

Forum international francophone: Jeunesse et emplois verts 16-19 January 2012Niamey, Niger[more information]

The 3rd Annual Smart Grid Summit 2012 24-25 January 2011Stockholm, Sweden[more information]

Complete listing of meetings and events available at www.uncsd2012.org

Major Groups Don't Forget...2nd Intersessional for Rio+20 Meets in December

Important consultations will take place at the 2nd Intersessional Meeting for Rio+20. Scheduled for 15 and 16 December 2011 at UN Headquarters, New York, the meeting will determine the scope and shape of the Rio+20 outcome document.

Meanwhile, a one-day workshop will also be offered for Major Groups and other stakeholders on 14 December. Designed to equip trainers, the workshop aims to enhance awareness of the themes of sustainable development and build the capacity of stakeholders to engage with the Rio+20 process.

Major Groups delegates are strongly encouraged to avail themselves of this unique opportunity to enrich their preparations, made possible by financial support from the European Commission.

Registration for the 2nd Intersessional Meeting is now open though the CSO Net online events registration system. For more information, please contact Mr. Beppe Lovoi at lovoi@un.org.

Rio+20 Portuguese Website LaunchedOn 23 November 2011, Rio+20 Conference Secretary-General (CSG) Sha Zukang launched the Portu-guese version of the official Rio+20 website, www.rio20.info/2012/. The website, available to Portuguese speaking countries, as part of the "Agenda G15" was developed by Instituto Humani-tare, a Brazilian civil society organization in corperation with UN-DESA and DPI. Over 200 people attended the event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The new website provides access to Rio+20 news and content to over 230 million Portuguese speak-ers worldwide and “reflects Brazil’s commitment to making Rio+20 a true milestone in the journey towards sustainable development,” stated Mr. Sha in his remarks. He added that Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world.

In a related event on “Advances and Challenges for Rio +20," held the same day at the City Palace of Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Nikhil Seth, Head of the Rio+20 Secretariat called for fair and balanced participa-tion of major groups at next year’s Conference.

Conference Secretary-General Sha Zukang addressing the audience in Brazil

Rio+20 Bureau Meeting14 December 2011, New York, USA - The 19th meeting of the Bureau of the Preparatory Process for Rio+20 will take place.

The Bureau will have a joint meeting with ECOSOC Bureau on a role of ECOSOC in the Rio+20 preparatory process, followed by a regular meet-ing where conducting the Second Intersessional Meeting will be discussed, among other issues.

Compilation DocumentIn March 2011, the Rio+20 Preparatory Committee at its Second Preparatory Meeting in March requested the Bureau to initiate an open, transparent and inclusive process, led by member States, to prepare in a timely manner a draft text, based upon all preparatory inputs, to serve as the basis for an outcome document for the Conference.

The draft text, also referred to as the compilation document, will serve as basis for the preparation of a zero-draft of the outcome document, to be presented for consideration by member States and other stakeholders at the 2nd Intersessional Meeting, next month.

A total of 647 inputs were submitted to the compilation document. Member States submitted 74 inputs, while major groups contributed the bulk - 493 inputs - almost 80% of the total submissions. The document is now available on our website and can be readily accessed at www.uncsd2012.org/compilationdocument. Keyword searches can be conducted for all the submissions.