#Earthinbrackets: The Rio Twitstorm
"If we are going to avert utter disaster, which grows steadily less likely, something needs to change, and quickly. We certainly saw nothing resembling change from world leaders assembled in Rio. The miasma is intact. "
The following is an annotated selection from tweets posted during the past week during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (“Rio+20”), the largest UN event ever held. Our own tweets were under the nom du twit, @peaksurfer. The conference marked the passage of 20 years since the Rio Earth Summit, which brought the world conventions on biodiversity, desertification and climate change. At the outset, high hopes surrounded this meeting also.
@may_east
"We aspire to nothing less than a global movement for generational change.” Ban ki Moon on Rio+20
@autopoeta
Gaia Home in the People's Summit. We got the goal in the crowdfunding! Thank you all! We'll meet at Rio de Janeiro - June 16th
@peaksurfer
#GaiaRio "The Case for Young People and Nature: A Path to a Healthy, Natural, Prosperous Future". http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2011/20110505_CaseForYoungPeople.pdf
@peaksurfer
#eCOOLnomics at #GaiaRio this Sunday:
1T of eco-biomass =
1/3T Biochar equal to -
1 T CO2e, plus
1MWh electricity, so
1/3 carbon negative.
@schoeffmann
heading off to FUTURE EARTH - research for global sustainability launch event now. check http://ow.ly/bAxzH for #thefuturewewant
@ActionaidDK
Negotiations on food security & agriculture ending for today at #rioplus20. Cant say I see #thefuturewewant. But it can still be done.
@GlobeScan
US citizens are the most in favor of their government NOT agreeing to any international commitments at #RioPlus20: http://bit.ly/L6Rfz7
@MissionBlue
Today! Brazil's Marine Protected Areas #RioPlus20 #thefuturewewant Tomorrow is #Oceans Day at Rio! http://ow.ly/bB2wW
@MissionBlue
New Channel Launches to Broadcast About Ocean from #Rioplus20 #oceansatrio @oceansinc http://ow.ly/bB5uf #oceans #thefuturewewant
@mark_lynas
@TheEconomist takes on Planetary Boundaries: http://www.economist.com/node/2
1556897 With big focus on the @TheBTI critique.
@GAPMarilyn
Rio+20: scientists call for action on population & consumption. Make no mistake: over-consumption is the lead villain. http://bit.ly/KpQyAv
@progressioIRL Handed supporter signatures to Minister #PHILHOGAN yesterday to tell him about #THEFUTUREWEWANT & our asks for #Rio+20 http://bit.ly/Lr7OBv
@JorisBaecke
Negotiations have a lot in common with how we @_CEJA_ in CAP working group fine tune our positions word-by-word. #Rioplus20 #thefuturewewant
@JorisBaecke
EU to G77: we reaffirm, take note, etc. It's now time to start committing, otherwise too weak text. #Rioplus20 #thefuturewewant
@JorisBaecke
Request to strengthen text by EU not yet picked up.I feel we should start committing. How else will we move forwards?#thefuturewewant
One of the first signs that things might not go as well when the Heads of State arrived to approve the final document were the tightening of restrictions on cross-communication between civil sector groups like farmers, trade unions, scientists and environmentalists and the main plenary meeting. As before at many UN events, civil society was walled off into a exhibition space 25 miles from the conference venue but was still permitted access through its accredited representatives, bused in with biodiesel shuttle buses. Unlike earlier conferences, however, more than 1500 CEOs of transnational corporations were given access credentials and their offices and exhibits were placed right beside or even inside the main venue.
@EdwardNorton
In Rio for start of #Rioplus20 and discussions of #futurewewant. Official start today. Follow @UN_Rioplus20
@peaksurfer
#GaiaRio HIGH LEVEL MTG 20-22 JUN Each Major Group gets just 15 passes to access plenary. Brazilian Civil Society will also receive 15. #RIO
@Agent350
Crowd gathering for big #endfossilfuelsubsidies action on Copacabana beach. This is going to rock. #RioPlus20
@MLiebreich
Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies should be a minimum outcome of #rioplus20.
@ JeremyLeggett
Yep. Something we can join fantasist forces on.
@Agent350
Just got inside the high-level negotiations on energy here at #Rioplus20. Suddenly, #endfossilfuelsubsidies is on the agenda
@peaksurfer
Gro Harlan Brundtland at #Rioplus20: population, consumption, resource depletion, and discrimination unsustainable. Nice pairing.
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 M.Robinson: what works in family planning -- girls decide. T.Wirth: govt backsliding rampant. Deride critics! Girls take charge!
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 Tony Simons: we have to grow as much food in next 40 years as we grew in last 8000. Yes, thats exponential function! #beyondrio
@UNEP:
#Sustainability index looks beyond #GDP Can we find a better way to measure development? http://bit.ly/MAO9BM #RioPlus20
At the end of the first week, spirits were still high, but clouds were appearing at the horizon. Many good things had been inserted into the draft outcome document, including reproductive literacy rights, an end to fossil fuel subsidies, a nuclear phase-out, and elevation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and Development Programme (UNDP) to full agency status, with better funding and more autonomy.
@CFigueres
Ban Ki-moon has announced more than 100 commitments on sustainable energy at Rio+20: http://bit.ly/KRn8wu #FutureWeWant
@anjaliapp
Right now, in Rio and in every nation, we need to #EndFossilFuelSubsidies. You voted, that's what you said. @tcktcktck #thefuturewewant
@NourishPlanet
At the Rio+20 Conference, @FordFoundation talks sustainable cities and urban development: http://ow.ly/bEQP9 #RioPlus20 #TheFutureWeWant
@peaksurfer
Participants at the SD Dialogue on Energy for All: eliminate subsidies to C-dirty nuclear energy; same as #EndFossilFuelSubsidies #Rioplus20
@NRDC
Pic of the huge #endfossilfuelsubsidies trillion $ bill at #RioPlus20 http://j.mp/KMEJko @Avaaz
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 we ran into Nicolas Metro at Satoyama talk. Yesterday he was out planting trees with Brazil youth group. He got a C-minus.
@WWF
#Rioplussocial is trending! Hope you're lending your voice for #socialgood at #Rioplus20. We can all contribute to #thefuturewewant
@peaksurfer
Lord J.S.Gummer #Rioplus20: we need to solve problems going the way of nature instead of technofixes. Not all questions have answers we like
In the early morning hours of June 19, the other shoe fell. It was Tuesday, and the next day the “High Level” meeting of Heads of State would kick off. They needed a document that all could endorse, so out came most of the best (and most controversial) parts of the agreement. Surprisingly, the US team held fast for including much that was ultimately deleted by Brazil.
@OwenTGibbons
Bunch of lead negotiators huddling around entrance to meeting room before plenary at midnight. New text at 2am local time #RioPlus20
@msabongui
#UNCSD #Rioplus20 closing negotiation meeting at midnight tonight. Brazilians to present final non-negotiable text. #EU, #US not v. Pleased.
@peaksurfer
#endfossilfuelsubsidies tweetstorm on the NYTimes radar; 2 stay on the #RioPlus20 Decl needs to get thru the nite #getthecoffeein
@OwenTGibbons
11pm plenary at #RioPlus20 now postponed. Looks like they might be going through the night. #getthecoffeein
@JeremyLeggett
Mr President, Please stop creating fresh terrorists with your murder spree, go to Rio, and rediscover what you promised us
@peaksurfer
Monbiot: Hope is the rope by which we hang ourselves. http://bit.ly/MJktz0 #rioplussocial #Rioplus20 #beyondrio #GaiaRio
@peaksurfer
RT @lmdo: "Using GDP as a measurement of development is overrated, it measures growth. What's next?" Gross Happiness Index #bhutan #rioplus20
@kellyrigg
No mention in new text of ending fossil fuel subsidies.
@peaksurfer
Plenary will reconvene today at 10:30 AM in P3-2, where #Brazil will introduce the 2AM #Futurewewant text for #Rioplus20 #GaiaRio
@SylviaEarle
My friend and fellow Ocean Elder @richardbranson on "The New Wild West" http://bit.ly/Mah1yL
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 police moved in and tried to shut down Radio Cupula at Peoples Summit, but crowds surrounded & protected. All cool, still on air.
@TheElders
"It seems governments will accept weak outcomes at #Rioplus20 in order to safeguard multilateralism." @sajosve in #Rio http://elde.rs/CVT
@alexjamesfarrow
Trying to find non-cliche words to describe what is happening at #RioPlus20, but it's a cliche outcome.
@jimleape
Brazil's proposed text: "We commit to take action by 2025 (to reduce marine debris)" (para. 163). 2025?!
@kellyrigg
@CFigueres proposes negotiators bring their kids to these mtgs, so they have to take decisions in front of them. Big applause! #Rioplus20
@CHedegaardEU
Rio+20 summit must move world beyond 'grow now, clean up later' http://bit.ly/M01ymr
@CHedegaardEU
#rioplus20 telling that nobody in that room adopting the text was happy. That's how weak it is. And they all knew. Disappointing #Rio20
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 stands out from recent UN summits in that official business was concluded today with 4 days left. Going nowhere saves time.
@futerra
Soundtrack for #Rioplus20 - let the sun shine http://bit.ly/2azms #thefuturewewant
@kuminaidoo
This is Rio Minus 20 which Fails on equity, fails on ecology, Fails on economy #rio+20 #earthsummit text longest suicide note in history
@peaksurfer
Vandana Shiva: Rio+20 is the "end of democracy." Pretty clear here as educators, scientists, NGOs, and public kept out http://fb.me/1bfWG6sfP
@peaksurfer
Prince Charles at #Rioplus20: we are sailing headlong into the sorts of storms that are the stuff of nightmares #futurewewant
@peaksurfer
Prince Charles #Rioplus20 #futurewewant "need to join the three cogs together" to run machine smoothly. 3 cogs = "global, national and corp"
On June 20, mass protest marches passed without violence through the streets of Rio. While they did not generate a lot of news, or even come close to the conference venue, they did signal a general change of tone in both supporters and critics of the meeting’s progress.
@mark_lynas
#Rio+20 draft: "grave concern" on climate, all vague, nothing new - final draft doc on http://www.cfact.tv/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Rio+20-Pre-conference-final-draft-The-Future-We-Want.pdf (h/t @marcelcrok)
@duycks
#RioPlus20 draft text is now online, check it here: http://slidesha.re/MuZ1gT I cant believe delegates spent 2 yrs to deliver this weak text
@acarmichaelmp
"Unless we take action now, the legacy of Rio 1992 is under serious threat' says @nick_clegg http://bit.ly/NNtf5J #RioPlus20
@peaksurfer
Applause for UK delegate re integrated reporting - UK announced all listed companies on stock exchange must report GHG footprint.
@tallthall
Video presentation on the state of the environment "Welcome to the anthropocene". I hate horror movies #rioplus20
@UN_Rioplus20
Happening now: @Brttnytrlfrd addressing the opening plenary at #Rioplus20 about her vision for the #Futurewewant
@peaksurfer
@kellyrigg RT @greendig Brittany Trlfd: 72 hours to decide the fate of your children, my children. The clock is @tcktcktcking!” #Rioplus20
@peaksurfer
3 more days will call it #riominus20. “
@duycks: NGOs asking not to be noted in #RioPlus20 document" because nowhere close to #futurewewant.
@peaksurfer
Via Campesina rep speaks for farmers' 5 min at #Rioplus20 plenary "no farms, no food, no future." urges organic, ecoagriculture practices.
@duycks
"the current document is a failure of leadership" said Mary Robinson commenting on #RioPlus20 http://bit.ly/KZGQkW #RioFail
@peaksurfer
UNDP's Helen Clark: it is not that we are asking countries to grow less, but to grow differently, as they will learn very soon. #Rioplus20
@tcktcktck
RT @alexjamesfarrow: True democracy & consensus at #RioPlus20 at the People Plenary. An un-named @UN source says 'Its amazing.' #riofail?
@CamFenton
The current #Rioplus20 outcome is a failure http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/cameron-fenton/rio20_b_1612629.html but can we turn up the heat enough to stop the #RioFail #climate
@peaksurfer
RT "#RioPlus20 is a wrap as far as @WWF is concerned. Leaders here have collectively failed to deliver the #FutureWeWant... Taxi!!!!”
@billmckibben
Walkout beginning. Proud to be part of 350, a youth-led movement #riofail
@PowerShiftCAN
MT @benmoran Front and centre on @AJELive - Protesters gather outside Rio summit (from Thursday): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-rVCjTcWV0&feature=g-all-u #RioFail
@hannathomas
New post - Why I walked out of #Rioplus20 http://adoptanegotiator.org/20
12/06/22/why-i-walked-out-of-rio20/ #Riofail
After allocating 5 minutes to Brittany Trilford, the teenage New Zealand keynoter who had won the Date With History contest put on by TckTckTck, and then giving 5 minutes each to representatives from the Major Groups (farmers, unions, scientists, charities, youth, indigenous peoples), the Plenary closed its doors and began a round of opening statements from each of the Heads of State. Each was allowed 5 minutes but after homicidal rapist thug Joseph Mugabe set the bar at 25 minutes, few others took less than 20, and since there were 180 or more nations to be heard, the opening statements used up all the time between Wednesday morning and Friday evening, when the conference was scheduled to close. Nonetheless, many of these statements were notable, even dramatic, and they succinctly describe the state of the political world in 2012, a house divided and at war with itself as well as nature.
@CFigueres
#RioPlus20 starts with Brittany Trifford: "your promises remain not broken but empty".
@duycks
"I stand here with fire in my heart. I am confused and angry at the state of the world..." @BrttnyTrlfrd speaking truth to power. #RioPlus20
@SvenSegal
Applause to @BrttnyTrlfrd had goosebumps watching her remarkable #Rioplus20 speech http://bit.ly/MtMITX via @TreeHugger #thefuturewewant
@tcktcktck
Video: @BrttnyTrlfrd's incredible #DateWithHistory speech to #Rioplus20 world leaders http://ow.ly/bHRnG w thanks to @ClimateHotNews
@LeoDiCaprio
#DateWithHistory winner Brittany leaves world leaders speechless with brave call for action at #rioplus20 http://bit.ly/KpXCs5
@may_east
Germany to close all nuclear plants by 2022 and cut 95% emission by 2050
@may_east
Venezuela: Capital has dressed in green & come back as new eco-colonialism”
@duycks
#RioPlus20 in 3steps: (1) discuss solutions a length (2) delete most constructive proposals at late hour (3) provide substanceless speeches
@peaksurfer
UK dep PM Clegg: "We will include natural capital in our national balance of accounts by 2020." But already discounting it by 60%
@artprojectearth
#RioFail has been hijacked by big polluters, profits, and the governments who negotiate on their behalf.
@hannathomas
No panelists showed up to the side event titled US Priorities for Rio+20. Symbolic perhaps.
@ClimateRadio
WORLD LEADERS STICK THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND http://bit.ly/KSrkfx Friends of the Earth uk press release #rioplus20
@billmckibben
Hillary quoting Steve Jobs.'think different.' i like my iphone, but c'mon. whole speech is about 'unlocking private investment.' #riofail
@alexjamesfarrow
Very strong speech by the @MGCY_UNCSD this morning: "You have sold our fate and subsidised our common destruction." #RioPlus20 #RioFail
@CouncilofCDNs
Politicians may be able to live with #RioFail, but the people won’t
@gmcheeseman
#RioPlus20=#riofail! Despite the Twitterstorm, clear deadlines to #endfossilfuelsubidies were taken out of final text. SHAME!
@CouncilofCDNs
#RioFail isn’t a failure of the UN, but a success for the corporate polluter lobby http://www.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/11449 via @CanadianYCC
@adamfriesen
@ec_minister claims ideology of ecologists blocking progress @ #Rioplus20. #riofail #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm #cdnpoli http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/06/21/un-conference-on-sustainable-development_n_1617357.html
@juanca_araali
THE FUTURE WE WANT IS NOT FOUND HERE. #RioFail #TheFutureWeWant #RioPlus20 http://instagr.am/p/MJkbivyLeQ/
@tcktcktck
BREAKING:The people have spoken! We reject the #RioPlus20 text & r convening a people's plenary w 100s sitting outside the negotation hall!
@lisacurtis
Young people walked out of the #rioplus20 Earth Summit #WhileTwitterwasDown in protest of a weak document that is not #thefuturewewant
@WHO
#Rioplus20 commits to more sustainable water use, safe drinking water, stewardship of water supplies to grow food #futurewewant
@WWF
World Leaders: We didn't elect & pay you to come to #RioPlus20 for the beaches. You must secure our future. Signed, #YourTaxpayers
@bebird
Why do we not have universal Rights of the Earth equal to the rights of corporations?
@marygkosta
We are sacrificing our planet to corporations. We cannot survive without this planet.
@tallthall
Governments Happy with Future We Want - AlertNet: http://bit.ly/MLljP3 #RioPlus20 #futurewewant
@UNEP
In telling our children of #RioPlus20 we will struggle to explain why we had the ability & means to act, but were helpless 'A.Steiner'
@wahyususilo
A luta continua! RT @pablosolon: #Rioplus20: Impressions from the Peoples’ Summit: forging a global social movement http://climate-connections.org/2012/06/22/rio20-impressions-from-the-alternative-peoples-summit/We Can End Poverty
@WeCanEndPoverty
Overview from @UN_News_Centre: $513 billion pledged for sustainable development at #RioPlus20 http://j.mp/MKF9Kr #FutureWeWant
@JeremyLeggett
@BarackObama: "This is all about the economy." No, Mr President, #rioplus20 is all about the economy. No viable environment, no economy.
@TheElders
#Rioplus20 was a failure of political leadership – but all of us, especially civil society & youth, have to take it forward. Mary Robinson
@UN
Delegates applaud at #Rioplus20 as #FutureWeWant outcome document officially adopted! See it here: http://j.mp/vh6Qai
@peaksurfer
Leaders to world: "We agree to what we agreed 20 yr ago, except those parts about action and urgency. And thanks for the fish."
Postscript:
We were so actively involved, buzzing around between meetings from dawn until midnight, doing radio and TV interviews, and giving talks and open sessions at the Peoples’ Summit, that we didn’t have the time we would have liked to write a timely, more thoughtful report. That may yet come, but for now, our sense of the meeting was that, as usual, there was small incremental progress made and some very large setbacks. An end to fossil fuel and nuclear power subsidies was almost within grasp, and we could not have said that 20 years ago. But, fiddling while the planet burns is dead meme.
Sadly, when it comes to binding global treaties, the UN is the only game in town, apart from business vehicles like the G77 and the Pentagon, and if the UN, too, becomes a corporate capture, we truly are doomed. From what we witnessed in Rio, that is well underway. Hillary Clinton seems to be the lead cheerleader.
There will be another Climate Summit in December, with more negotiations on the Green Climate Fund (now also called the Green Power Fund) and interim meetings on the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). While realism is creeping in with the steady collapse of ever more institutions, the negotiating process for climate, income equity, and food security seems glacial when compared to the daily loss of species, jobs, and freshwater resource, among other indicators.
If we are going to avert utter disaster, which grows steadily less likely, something needs to change, and quickly. We certainly saw nothing resembling change from world leaders assembled in Rio. The miasma is intact. Moreover, the impetus for making change has clearly shifted to the opinion leaders not in the press or blogosphere but in the streets.
The clearest and wisest voices heard in Rio were heard every hour in the Peoples’ Summit, from the Occupy and related protest movements, from indigenous peoples, and from youth. Our own venue, the crowd-sourced Gaia Home in Cupula dos Povos, developed a steady and regular attendance of hundreds, with barely standing room at the edges of our large circus tent on the days we talked about ecovillages, transition towns, eCoolnomics (carbon-minus food, fuel and housing), education, networks and social equity. We flew in experts, authors and activists from six continents although some biked 1000 km to get there, or came by sail, and we’d all like to see more of that. By the final day of the conference, we were told we had become the main stage for the entire event, much to our surprise.
While approval is not unwelcome, and we have been preparing for this for many decades, it did cost us more than expected to keep a high level of activity in an expensive urban environment. Donations are tax-deductible and should be directed to our Global Village Institute, which is easily found on guidestar.net (charity 62-1220750) or on PayPal. We will be planting trees to offset our entire carbon footprint as our superstars wend their ways home. Thanks to all who supported us so far!
The following is an annotated selection from tweets posted during the past week during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (“Rio+20”), the largest UN event ever held. Our own tweets were under the nom du twit, @peaksurfer. The conference marked the passage of 20 years since the Rio Earth Summit, which brought the world conventions on biodiversity, desertification and climate change. At the outset, high hopes surrounded this meeting also.  |
| Gro Harlan Bruntland, 40 years after Stockholm |
"We aspire to nothing less than a global movement for generational change.” Ban ki Moon on Rio+20
@autopoeta
Gaia Home in the People's Summit. We got the goal in the crowdfunding! Thank you all! We'll meet at Rio de Janeiro - June 16th
@peaksurfer
#GaiaRio "The Case for Young People and Nature: A Path to a Healthy, Natural, Prosperous Future". http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2011/20110505_CaseForYoungPeople.pdf
@peaksurfer
#eCOOLnomics at #GaiaRio this Sunday:
1T of eco-biomass =
1/3T Biochar equal to -
1 T CO2e, plus
1MWh electricity, so
1/3 carbon negative.
@schoeffmann
heading off to FUTURE EARTH - research for global sustainability launch event now. check http://ow.ly/bAxzH for #thefuturewewant
@ActionaidDKNegotiations on food security & agriculture ending for today at #rioplus20. Cant say I see #thefuturewewant. But it can still be done.
@GlobeScan
US citizens are the most in favor of their government NOT agreeing to any international commitments at #RioPlus20: http://bit.ly/L6Rfz7
@MissionBlue
Today! Brazil's Marine Protected Areas #RioPlus20 #thefuturewewant Tomorrow is #Oceans Day at Rio! http://ow.ly/bB2wW
@MissionBlue
New Channel Launches to Broadcast About Ocean from #Rioplus20 #oceansatrio @oceansinc http://ow.ly/bB5uf #oceans #thefuturewewant
@mark_lynas
@TheEconomist takes on Planetary Boundaries: http://www.economist.com/node/2
1556897 With big focus on the @TheBTI critique.
@GAPMarilyn
Rio+20: scientists call for action on population & consumption. Make no mistake: over-consumption is the lead villain. http://bit.ly/KpQyAv
@progressioIRL Handed supporter signatures to Minister #PHILHOGAN yesterday to tell him about #THEFUTUREWEWANT & our asks for #Rio+20 http://bit.ly/Lr7OBv@JorisBaecke
Negotiations have a lot in common with how we @_CEJA_ in CAP working group fine tune our positions word-by-word. #Rioplus20 #thefuturewewant
@JorisBaeckeEU to G77: we reaffirm, take note, etc. It's now time to start committing, otherwise too weak text. #Rioplus20 #thefuturewewant
@JorisBaecke
Request to strengthen text by EU not yet picked up.I feel we should start committing. How else will we move forwards?#thefuturewewant
One of the first signs that things might not go as well when the Heads of State arrived to approve the final document were the tightening of restrictions on cross-communication between civil sector groups like farmers, trade unions, scientists and environmentalists and the main plenary meeting. As before at many UN events, civil society was walled off into a exhibition space 25 miles from the conference venue but was still permitted access through its accredited representatives, bused in with biodiesel shuttle buses. Unlike earlier conferences, however, more than 1500 CEOs of transnational corporations were given access credentials and their offices and exhibits were placed right beside or even inside the main venue.
@EdwardNortonIn Rio for start of #Rioplus20 and discussions of #futurewewant. Official start today. Follow @UN_Rioplus20
@peaksurfer
#GaiaRio HIGH LEVEL MTG 20-22 JUN Each Major Group gets just 15 passes to access plenary. Brazilian Civil Society will also receive 15. #RIO
@Agent350
Crowd gathering for big #endfossilfuelsubsidies action on Copacabana beach. This is going to rock. #RioPlus20
@MLiebreich
Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies should be a minimum outcome of #rioplus20.
@ JeremyLeggett
Yep. Something we can join fantasist forces on.
@Agent350Just got inside the high-level negotiations on energy here at #Rioplus20. Suddenly, #endfossilfuelsubsidies is on the agenda
@peaksurfer
Gro Harlan Brundtland at #Rioplus20: population, consumption, resource depletion, and discrimination unsustainable. Nice pairing.
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 M.Robinson: what works in family planning -- girls decide. T.Wirth: govt backsliding rampant. Deride critics! Girls take charge!
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 Tony Simons: we have to grow as much food in next 40 years as we grew in last 8000. Yes, thats exponential function! #beyondrio
 |
| The event was wreathed in WI-Max |
#Sustainability index looks beyond #GDP Can we find a better way to measure development? http://bit.ly/MAO9BM #RioPlus20
At the end of the first week, spirits were still high, but clouds were appearing at the horizon. Many good things had been inserted into the draft outcome document, including reproductive literacy rights, an end to fossil fuel subsidies, a nuclear phase-out, and elevation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and Development Programme (UNDP) to full agency status, with better funding and more autonomy.
@CFigueres
Ban Ki-moon has announced more than 100 commitments on sustainable energy at Rio+20: http://bit.ly/KRn8wu #FutureWeWant
@anjaliapp
Right now, in Rio and in every nation, we need to #EndFossilFuelSubsidies. You voted, that's what you said. @tcktcktck #thefuturewewant
@NourishPlanet
At the Rio+20 Conference, @FordFoundation talks sustainable cities and urban development: http://ow.ly/bEQP9 #RioPlus20 #TheFutureWeWant
@peaksurfer
Participants at the SD Dialogue on Energy for All: eliminate subsidies to C-dirty nuclear energy; same as #EndFossilFuelSubsidies #Rioplus20@NRDC
Pic of the huge #endfossilfuelsubsidies trillion $ bill at #RioPlus20 http://j.mp/KMEJko @Avaaz
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 we ran into Nicolas Metro at Satoyama talk. Yesterday he was out planting trees with Brazil youth group. He got a C-minus.
@WWF
#Rioplussocial is trending! Hope you're lending your voice for #socialgood at #Rioplus20. We can all contribute to #thefuturewewant
@peaksurfer
Lord J.S.Gummer #Rioplus20: we need to solve problems going the way of nature instead of technofixes. Not all questions have answers we like
In the early morning hours of June 19, the other shoe fell. It was Tuesday, and the next day the “High Level” meeting of Heads of State would kick off. They needed a document that all could endorse, so out came most of the best (and most controversial) parts of the agreement. Surprisingly, the US team held fast for including much that was ultimately deleted by Brazil.
@OwenTGibbonsBunch of lead negotiators huddling around entrance to meeting room before plenary at midnight. New text at 2am local time #RioPlus20
@msabongui
#UNCSD #Rioplus20 closing negotiation meeting at midnight tonight. Brazilians to present final non-negotiable text. #EU, #US not v. Pleased.
@peaksurfer
#endfossilfuelsubsidies tweetstorm on the NYTimes radar; 2 stay on the #RioPlus20 Decl needs to get thru the nite #getthecoffeein
@OwenTGibbons11pm plenary at #RioPlus20 now postponed. Looks like they might be going through the night. #getthecoffeein
@JeremyLeggett
Mr President, Please stop creating fresh terrorists with your murder spree, go to Rio, and rediscover what you promised us
@peaksurfer
Monbiot: Hope is the rope by which we hang ourselves. http://bit.ly/MJktz0 #rioplussocial #Rioplus20 #beyondrio #GaiaRio
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| Bhutan's Secretary of Happiness |
RT @lmdo: "Using GDP as a measurement of development is overrated, it measures growth. What's next?" Gross Happiness Index #bhutan #rioplus20
@kellyrigg
No mention in new text of ending fossil fuel subsidies.
@peaksurfer
Plenary will reconvene today at 10:30 AM in P3-2, where #Brazil will introduce the 2AM #Futurewewant text for #Rioplus20 #GaiaRio
@SylviaEarleMy friend and fellow Ocean Elder @richardbranson on "The New Wild West" http://bit.ly/Mah1yL
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 police moved in and tried to shut down Radio Cupula at Peoples Summit, but crowds surrounded & protected. All cool, still on air.
@TheElders
"It seems governments will accept weak outcomes at #Rioplus20 in order to safeguard multilateralism." @sajosve in #Rio http://elde.rs/CVT
@alexjamesfarrow
Trying to find non-cliche words to describe what is happening at #RioPlus20, but it's a cliche outcome.
@jimleape
Brazil's proposed text: "We commit to take action by 2025 (to reduce marine debris)" (para. 163). 2025?!
@kellyrigg
@CFigueres proposes negotiators bring their kids to these mtgs, so they have to take decisions in front of them. Big applause! #Rioplus20
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| Smokeless stoves were big |
Rio+20 summit must move world beyond 'grow now, clean up later' http://bit.ly/M01ymr
@CHedegaardEU
#rioplus20 telling that nobody in that room adopting the text was happy. That's how weak it is. And they all knew. Disappointing #Rio20
@peaksurfer
#Rioplus20 stands out from recent UN summits in that official business was concluded today with 4 days left. Going nowhere saves time.
@futerra
Soundtrack for #Rioplus20 - let the sun shine http://bit.ly/2azms #thefuturewewant
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| Steiner of UNEP put on a brave face |
This is Rio Minus 20 which Fails on equity, fails on ecology, Fails on economy #rio+20 #earthsummit text longest suicide note in history
@peaksurfer
Vandana Shiva: Rio+20 is the "end of democracy." Pretty clear here as educators, scientists, NGOs, and public kept out http://fb.me/1bfWG6sfP
@peaksurfer
Prince Charles at #Rioplus20: we are sailing headlong into the sorts of storms that are the stuff of nightmares #futurewewant
@peaksurferPrince Charles #Rioplus20 #futurewewant "need to join the three cogs together" to run machine smoothly. 3 cogs = "global, national and corp"
On June 20, mass protest marches passed without violence through the streets of Rio. While they did not generate a lot of news, or even come close to the conference venue, they did signal a general change of tone in both supporters and critics of the meeting’s progress.
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| cardboard table, pallet wall |
#Rio+20 draft: "grave concern" on climate, all vague, nothing new - final draft doc on http://www.cfact.tv/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Rio+20-Pre-conference-final-draft-The-Future-We-Want.pdf (h/t @marcelcrok)
@duycks
#RioPlus20 draft text is now online, check it here: http://slidesha.re/MuZ1gT I cant believe delegates spent 2 yrs to deliver this weak text
@acarmichaelmp
"Unless we take action now, the legacy of Rio 1992 is under serious threat' says @nick_clegg http://bit.ly/NNtf5J #RioPlus20
@peaksurfer
Applause for UK delegate re integrated reporting - UK announced all listed companies on stock exchange must report GHG footprint.
@tallthall
Video presentation on the state of the environment "Welcome to the anthropocene". I hate horror movies #rioplus20
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| Richard Branson awards Equator Prize to 10 grass roots NGOs |
Happening now: @Brttnytrlfrd addressing the opening plenary at #Rioplus20 about her vision for the #Futurewewant
@peaksurfer
@kellyrigg RT @greendig Brittany Trlfd: 72 hours to decide the fate of your children, my children. The clock is @tcktcktcking!” #Rioplus20
@peaksurfer
3 more days will call it #riominus20. “
@duycks: NGOs asking not to be noted in #RioPlus20 document" because nowhere close to #futurewewant.
@peaksurfer
Via Campesina rep speaks for farmers' 5 min at #Rioplus20 plenary "no farms, no food, no future." urges organic, ecoagriculture practices.
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| recycled cardboard meeting room |
"the current document is a failure of leadership" said Mary Robinson commenting on #RioPlus20 http://bit.ly/KZGQkW #RioFail
@peaksurfer
UNDP's Helen Clark: it is not that we are asking countries to grow less, but to grow differently, as they will learn very soon. #Rioplus20
@tcktcktck
RT @alexjamesfarrow: True democracy & consensus at #RioPlus20 at the People Plenary. An un-named @UN source says 'Its amazing.' #riofail?
@CamFenton
The current #Rioplus20 outcome is a failure http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/cameron-fenton/rio20_b_1612629.html but can we turn up the heat enough to stop the #RioFail #climate
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| Cardboard and bamboo |
RT "#RioPlus20 is a wrap as far as @WWF is concerned. Leaders here have collectively failed to deliver the #FutureWeWant... Taxi!!!!”
@billmckibben
Walkout beginning. Proud to be part of 350, a youth-led movement #riofail
@PowerShiftCAN
MT @benmoran Front and centre on @AJELive - Protesters gather outside Rio summit (from Thursday): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-rVCjTcWV0&feature=g-all-u #RioFail
@hannathomas
New post - Why I walked out of #Rioplus20 http://adoptanegotiator.org/20
12/06/22/why-i-walked-out-of-rio20/ #Riofail
After allocating 5 minutes to Brittany Trilford, the teenage New Zealand keynoter who had won the Date With History contest put on by TckTckTck, and then giving 5 minutes each to representatives from the Major Groups (farmers, unions, scientists, charities, youth, indigenous peoples), the Plenary closed its doors and began a round of opening statements from each of the Heads of State. Each was allowed 5 minutes but after homicidal rapist thug Joseph Mugabe set the bar at 25 minutes, few others took less than 20, and since there were 180 or more nations to be heard, the opening statements used up all the time between Wednesday morning and Friday evening, when the conference was scheduled to close. Nonetheless, many of these statements were notable, even dramatic, and they succinctly describe the state of the political world in 2012, a house divided and at war with itself as well as nature.
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| Flowers at graveside |
#RioPlus20 starts with Brittany Trifford: "your promises remain not broken but empty".
@duycks
"I stand here with fire in my heart. I am confused and angry at the state of the world..." @BrttnyTrlfrd speaking truth to power. #RioPlus20
@SvenSegal
Applause to @BrttnyTrlfrd had goosebumps watching her remarkable #Rioplus20 speech http://bit.ly/MtMITX via @TreeHugger #thefuturewewant
@tcktcktck
Video: @BrttnyTrlfrd's incredible #DateWithHistory speech to #Rioplus20 world leaders http://ow.ly/bHRnG w thanks to @ClimateHotNews
@LeoDiCaprio
#DateWithHistory winner Brittany leaves world leaders speechless with brave call for action at #rioplus20 http://bit.ly/KpXCs5
@may_east
Germany to close all nuclear plants by 2022 and cut 95% emission by 2050
Venezuela: Capital has dressed in green & come back as new eco-colonialism”
@duycks
#RioPlus20 in 3steps: (1) discuss solutions a length (2) delete most constructive proposals at late hour (3) provide substanceless speeches
@peaksurfer
UK dep PM Clegg: "We will include natural capital in our national balance of accounts by 2020." But already discounting it by 60%
@artprojectearth
#RioFail has been hijacked by big polluters, profits, and the governments who negotiate on their behalf.
@hannathomasNo panelists showed up to the side event titled US Priorities for Rio+20. Symbolic perhaps.
@ClimateRadio
WORLD LEADERS STICK THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND http://bit.ly/KSrkfx Friends of the Earth uk press release #rioplus20
@billmckibben
Hillary quoting Steve Jobs.'think different.' i like my iphone, but c'mon. whole speech is about 'unlocking private investment.' #riofail
@alexjamesfarrow
Very strong speech by the @MGCY_UNCSD this morning: "You have sold our fate and subsidised our common destruction." #RioPlus20 #RioFail
@CouncilofCDNs
Politicians may be able to live with #RioFail, but the people won’t
@gmcheeseman
#RioPlus20=#riofail! Despite the Twitterstorm, clear deadlines to #endfossilfuelsubidies were taken out of final text. SHAME!
@CouncilofCDNs
#RioFail isn’t a failure of the UN, but a success for the corporate polluter lobby http://www.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/11449 via @CanadianYCC
@adamfriesen
@ec_minister claims ideology of ecologists blocking progress @ #Rioplus20. #riofail #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm #cdnpoli http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/06/21/un-conference-on-sustainable-development_n_1617357.html
@juanca_araaliTHE FUTURE WE WANT IS NOT FOUND HERE. #RioFail #TheFutureWeWant #RioPlus20 http://instagr.am/p/MJkbivyLeQ/
@tcktcktck
BREAKING:The people have spoken! We reject the #RioPlus20 text & r convening a people's plenary w 100s sitting outside the negotation hall!
@lisacurtis
Young people walked out of the #rioplus20 Earth Summit #WhileTwitterwasDown in protest of a weak document that is not #thefuturewewant
@WHO
#Rioplus20 commits to more sustainable water use, safe drinking water, stewardship of water supplies to grow food #futurewewant
@WWF
World Leaders: We didn't elect & pay you to come to #RioPlus20 for the beaches. You must secure our future. Signed, #YourTaxpayers
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| In Rio, cafe TVs tuned to the Plenary |
Why do we not have universal Rights of the Earth equal to the rights of corporations?
@marygkosta
We are sacrificing our planet to corporations. We cannot survive without this planet.
@tallthall
Governments Happy with Future We Want - AlertNet: http://bit.ly/MLljP3 #RioPlus20 #futurewewant
@UNEP
In telling our children of #RioPlus20 we will struggle to explain why we had the ability & means to act, but were helpless 'A.Steiner'
@wahyususilo
A luta continua! RT @pablosolon: #Rioplus20: Impressions from the Peoples’ Summit: forging a global social movement http://climate-connections.org/2012/06/22/rio20-impressions-from-the-alternative-peoples-summit/We Can End Poverty
@WeCanEndPovertyOverview from @UN_News_Centre: $513 billion pledged for sustainable development at #RioPlus20 http://j.mp/MKF9Kr #FutureWeWant
@JeremyLeggett
@BarackObama: "This is all about the economy." No, Mr President, #rioplus20 is all about the economy. No viable environment, no economy.
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| Hillary Clinton and other top leaders avoided traffic, coming and going by helo |
#Rioplus20 was a failure of political leadership – but all of us, especially civil society & youth, have to take it forward. Mary Robinson
@UN
Delegates applaud at #Rioplus20 as #FutureWeWant outcome document officially adopted! See it here: http://j.mp/vh6Qai
@peaksurfer
Leaders to world: "We agree to what we agreed 20 yr ago, except those parts about action and urgency. And thanks for the fish."
Postscript:
We were so actively involved, buzzing around between meetings from dawn until midnight, doing radio and TV interviews, and giving talks and open sessions at the Peoples’ Summit, that we didn’t have the time we would have liked to write a timely, more thoughtful report. That may yet come, but for now, our sense of the meeting was that, as usual, there was small incremental progress made and some very large setbacks. An end to fossil fuel and nuclear power subsidies was almost within grasp, and we could not have said that 20 years ago. But, fiddling while the planet burns is dead meme.
Sadly, when it comes to binding global treaties, the UN is the only game in town, apart from business vehicles like the G77 and the Pentagon, and if the UN, too, becomes a corporate capture, we truly are doomed. From what we witnessed in Rio, that is well underway. Hillary Clinton seems to be the lead cheerleader.
There will be another Climate Summit in December, with more negotiations on the Green Climate Fund (now also called the Green Power Fund) and interim meetings on the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). While realism is creeping in with the steady collapse of ever more institutions, the negotiating process for climate, income equity, and food security seems glacial when compared to the daily loss of species, jobs, and freshwater resource, among other indicators.
If we are going to avert utter disaster, which grows steadily less likely, something needs to change, and quickly. We certainly saw nothing resembling change from world leaders assembled in Rio. The miasma is intact. Moreover, the impetus for making change has clearly shifted to the opinion leaders not in the press or blogosphere but in the streets. The clearest and wisest voices heard in Rio were heard every hour in the Peoples’ Summit, from the Occupy and related protest movements, from indigenous peoples, and from youth. Our own venue, the crowd-sourced Gaia Home in Cupula dos Povos, developed a steady and regular attendance of hundreds, with barely standing room at the edges of our large circus tent on the days we talked about ecovillages, transition towns, eCoolnomics (carbon-minus food, fuel and housing), education, networks and social equity. We flew in experts, authors and activists from six continents although some biked 1000 km to get there, or came by sail, and we’d all like to see more of that. By the final day of the conference, we were told we had become the main stage for the entire event, much to our surprise.
While approval is not unwelcome, and we have been preparing for this for many decades, it did cost us more than expected to keep a high level of activity in an expensive urban environment. Donations are tax-deductible and should be directed to our Global Village Institute, which is easily found on guidestar.net (charity 62-1220750) or on PayPal. We will be planting trees to offset our entire carbon footprint as our superstars wend their ways home. Thanks to all who supported us so far!
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