On May 17, at UN Headquarters in New York, CitNet co-sponsored, with the Centre for Environment & Development in Sri Lanka and the international Climate Sustainability Platform, a discussion on "Equity and Sustainability in a Green Economy - including Commitments on Poverty Eradication, Sustainable Consumption and Production, and Climate Sustainability".

The UN is organizing a follow-up conference twenty years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and the first preparatory meeting for Rio+20 was held May 17-19 in New York. CitNet helped organize a side event at which non-governmental organizations discussed the current focus on the 'green economy' and how that concept relates to sustainable development goals.

The planet and its people seem to be in a far more critical situation than in 1992. With the collapse of global economic markets, and clear evidence of the environmental damage to the earth's land, water and atmosphere associated with economic growth based on fossil fuels, the term ‘green economy’ has quickly become adopted to refer to lifestyles and production processes involving lower levels of emissions, pollution, resource consumption and ecosystem destruction. It is not so clear, however, what a green economy means for poor communities in developing countries that desperately need more access to modern energy sources and income opportunities.

One theme that emerged strongly from the discussion was that industrialized countries should commit to addressing the needs of developing countries in order to secure the stability, security and sustainability of our collective future. In planning for a sustainable - and green - future, we need to view the world as a global community and use the available resources, as well as our human capacities for innovation and compassion, to create an economic system that promotes fairness and social equity, as well as environmental conservation and sustainable lifestyles.

http://climatesustainabilityplatform.blogspot.com/2010/05/report-of-a-ri...

http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/rio20/resources/perpcomm1_doc_other_UNCSD_rio_...