Monday, May 21, 2012

What Kind of Future Do You Want?

Rio de Janeiro, the host for the Rio+20.
“If you could build the future, what kind of future would you want?”
This is the question for the conference gatherers of the  "Save the Planet" summit will be trying to answer.
This years conference is called United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or "Rio+20" for short.
It will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012 – twenty years after the landmark 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Rio+20 is also an opportunity to look ahead to the world we want in 20 years.
At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from the private sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet.
The official discussions will focus on two main themes: how to build a green economy to achieve sustainable development and lift people out of poverty; and how to improve international coordination for sustainable development.
It is a historic opportunity to define pathways to a sustainable future – a future with more jobs, more clean energy, greater security and a decent standard of living for all.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says, “Rio+20 will be one of the most important global meetings on sustainable development in our time.”
(Photo courtesy of  UN website)
Why Do We Need R+20?

► The world now has 7 billion people — by 2050,there will be 9 billion.
► One out of every five people — 1.4 billion — currently lives on $1.25 a day or less.
► A billion and a half people in the world do not have access to electricity. Two and a half billion do not have a toilet. And almost a billion go hungry every day.
► Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and more than a third of all known species could go extinct if climate change continues unchecked.
► If we are to leave a liveable world to our children and grandchildren, the challenges of widespread poverty and environmental destruction need to be tackled now.
► We will incur far greater costs in the future
— including more poverty and instability, and a
degraded planet — if we fail to adequately address
these critical challenges now.
► Rio+20 provides an opportunity to think globally,
so that we can all act locally to secure our common future.

According to Sha Zukang, Secretary-General of the Rio+20 Conference, sustainable development is not an option! It is the only path that allows all of humanity to share a decent life on this, one planet. Rio+20 gives our generation the opportunity to choose this path.

R+20 will tackle the issues on finding a solutions for many sustainable development problems, including challenges related to cities, energy, water, food and ecosystems. At Rio+20, countries will seek ways to make them a reality by:

► Making the transition to greener economies while focusing on poverty eradication.
► Protecting our oceans from overfishing, the destruction of marine ecosystems and the adverse effects of climate change.
► Making our cities more liveable and more efficient.
► Broadening the use of renewable energy sources that can significantly lower carbon emissions as well as indoor and outdoor pollution, while promoting economic growth.

How about you? What kind of future do you want?

15 comments:

  1. I just want a normal and stable life...having fun and having troubles sometimes...

    Rio, I remembered the 3D movie Rio, about the blue bird which cannot fly...

    I really like that inspiring movie.

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  2. the global warming is what bothers me a lot... i hope people will start taking this issue very seriously.. or else, we will all regret it in the end sigh

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  3. Just a simple life... Sounds simple huh...:)

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  4. interesting post, and i love all those facts that you have shared!! awesome.. :)

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  5. some stark facts there, thank you for making us aware of this.

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  6. my hubs has a ton of photos of brazil. great post. :)

    xoxo
    jasmine
    AdamAlexMommy

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  7. I wonder if they really have the intention to worry about the issues or are they just thinking of profiting from the cause. Yuna's Sparkle music video created on smart phone

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  9. Wonderful story. Beautiful picture of Rio de Janeiro. Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. I am following via Twitter. Donna

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  10. I liked this post and appreciatee the list of facts you included. Some of the facts really put things in perspective. I think it is important that we all think about the future and what we can do to make our planet a healthy one for future generations (and ourselves).
    ~Jess

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  11. Well written post, very compelling. Though not always fruitful, these summits by world leaders are good forum to talk about very important issues of the day!


    oxo

    ML
    Twenty York Street
    www.twentyyork.com
    Follow me in Twitter: @20YS

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  12. Hello.
    Fascinating & interesting post.
    I'm a simple guy & would like a future with no sickness, no pain, no poverty & long life. Thanks for sharing.

    You can still try your hand at the Lovers' Cove Challenge. All you need do is write in 15 words or less, but you have to use the line of the previous person in the Linky as your guide...that's the challenge! If not, then bookmark your calendar for June 2nd & come join me for the second Blog Hop Saturday! Hope you can make it!

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  13. i am hopeful for a great outcome of this conference

    whoever the Philippines rep on that upcoming conference he must point out the plunder of the Philippine's natural resources that is taking plac that resulted to widepsread deforestation, degraded coasts, diminished mangroves, increasing number of threatened species and crisis in the nation's water resources

    what kind of future i want? this article on north korea is i really wanted:
    http://www.randomxthoughts.com/2012/05/north-korea.html

    thank you so much for visiting my blog

    ReplyDelete

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