By Cyril Ritchie, Vice President Union of International Associations, UIA Rio+20. It is very widely accepted that this month's United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), commonly known as Rio+20, constitutes a crucial rendezvous for the world's governments, the world's parliaments, and the world's Civil Society. It will also hopefully be considered crucial by the world's media. UNCSD in Rio in June 2012 follows on from UNCHE (the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment) in Stockholm in 1972; from UNCED (the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) in Rio in 1992; and from WSSD (the World Summit on Sustainable Development) in Johannesburg in 2002. All those Conferences, and the United Nations structures and mechanisms that arose from them, have resulted in excellent standards/goals/targets/objectives/aspirations for achieving a healthy planet. Good intentions abound; good Conventions abound; good Programmes abound. But the forty-year history is also one of missed opportunities, of weak or even non-existent implementation, of short-term thinking focussed on the next national election rather than on long-term securing of the well-being of future generations on this planet. It is encouraging to note that one of the likely outcomes of UNCSD will be a call to create - at international and at national levels - a post of "Ombudsperson for Future Generations" (one such already exists in Hungary) charged inter alia with scrutinizing draft governmental legislative texts or decrees to ensure that they do not, even inadvertently, jeopardize the right of future generations to inherit a liveable sustainable planet. Humankind cannot afford another missed opportunity this month in Rio. As the World Future Council has written "Our actions in this decade will determine whether or not we will preserve a planet similar to that on which civilisation developed and to which life on earth is adapted. For nature does not negotiate. Natural laws cannot be overturned by political decisions." It is therefore to be fervently hoped that as many as possible citizens' organizations, parliamentary politicians, and government officials have made it to Rio in June 2012, and are determined and intellectually equipped to make the social, economic and environmental decisions that will preserve - and enhance - life on our planet. The time for realistic action to "save the planet" is desperately short. In the lead-up period to UNCSD, the number of actors relating to and serving Sustainable Development has been legion: networks, list-serves, intergovernmental mechanisms, sectoral coordinators galore. The quantity - and, fortunately, the quality - of publications, reports, magazines, leaflets, pamphlets has required intense attention and absorption. Now, just as you read this article, the moment has come for decisions. And tomorrow is the time for implementation. NGOs and Civil Society Organizations - but also parliamentarians and the media - must follow the post-UNCSD process with great vigilance, to ensure that governments live up to the promises they will have made at UNCSD. This is a responsibility of citizens and citizens' organizations of all continents, all ages, all persuasions. The planet is ours... | ||||||