Rio+20: No jobs on a dead planet. That said, what after ?

World leaders and business chiefs have accepted there are no jobs on a dead planet, at the end of a three-day environment summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will play a key role in driving reforms agreed to by more than 190 nations at the Rio+20 conference, which comes 20 years after the original Earth Summit which invented the term “sustainable development”.

She will co-chair with Rwanda a task force to finalise the delivery of the millennium development goals – global anti-poverty measures which end in 2015 – and will contribute to a new set of “sustainable development goals” (SDG).

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Rich and poor nations will cooperatively set targets across the range of issues, from water and land use to recycling.

via No jobs on a dead planet: summit.

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Rio+20 ends with weak text, emboldened observers | Reuters

Global leaders ended a U.N. development summit on Friday with what was widely considered a lackluster agreement, leaving many attendees convinced that individuals and companies, rather than governments, must lead efforts to improve the environment.

Nearly 100 heads of state and government gathered over the past three days in efforts to establish “sustainable development goals,” a U.N. drive built around economic growth, the environment and social inclusion. But a lack of consensus over those goals in Rio de Janeiro led to an agreement that even some signatory nations said lacked commitment, specifics and measurable targets.

A series of much-hyped global summits on environmental policy has now fallen short of expectations, going back at least to a 2009 U.N. meeting in Copenhagen that ended in near chaos. As a result, many ecologists, activists, and business leaders now believe that progress on environmental issues must be made locally with the private sector, and without the help of international accords.

via Rio+20 ends with weak text, emboldened observers | Reuters.