The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 4 – 6 June 2012. This appointment marks the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Summit in Rio.
Earth Summits are meetings organised by the UN every ten years, bringing together the world’s decision-makers to define the means to stimulate and accelerate progress towards achieving sustainable development globally. Earth Summit 2012 will be the fourth summit of its kind and represents a milestone in the ongoing international efforts.
Government officials from 178 countries, as well as between 20,000 and 40,000 individuals from governments, non-governmental organisations and the media, are expected to participate in this event. The conference will revolve around two main themes: green economy and the institutional framework for sustainable development.
In this context, UIC has decided to take an active part in this international event and its participation includes a number of activities, including the contribution to the UN Compilation Document and the organisation of side events at a series of preparatory meetings at which UIC can work to influence the negotiations and make the voice of rail heard.
The following two articles report on two side events organised in Geneva and New York in December 2011:
On 2 December 2011, UIC had the opportunity to hold a side event at the Regional Preparatory Meeting at the United Nations in Geneva on “transport in a green economy”. This Regional Preparatory Meeting aims to prepare the contribution from the UNECE region (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Participants in the side event included Eva Molnar, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Director of the Transport Division; Fulai Sheng, Head, Research and Partnerships Unit, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Robert Thaler, Director, Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water; Caroline Beglinger, Transport and Environment Association (ATE), Transport Policy Manager and Member of the Transport and Environment Board, Brussels, and Alex Veitch, Head of UIC’s Sustainable Development Unit.
At the end of the discussions, a collective message from the transport sector was sent to the negotiating delegates, highlighting that
– Transport needs to be put on the agenda in Rio
– Investments in transport are necessary
– Need for public transport and more efficient and cleaner road transport
– Need for policy and framework to encourage sustainable transport
– All transport modes need to be more energy efficient, reduce pollution and transport modes need to work together and to be better connected to create a sustainable system
For more information on Rio+20 please visit http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/
