Will negotiators finish the outcome document for the Rio+20 conference in time for the June 20-22 meeting in Brazil?
The result of the third “informal-informal” pre-summit talks led by a special preparatory committee suggests a less than favorable scenario. The negotiations, held May 29 to June 2 in New York, ended in a deadlock with only 20 percent of the draft outcome document agreed upon, IPS News says.
Among remaining sticking points are the focus areas of the proposed Sustainable Development Goals and how to ensure these goals integrate the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable development.
The task of finalizing the outcome document, dubbed “Future We Want,” now falls to participants of a final June 13-15 preparatory committee session in Brazil. If this meeting still fails to produce a text that all countries will agree to, world leaders are expected to step in to finalize the document.
Kim Sook, co-chair of the preparatory committee, remains positive the group will be able to produce “an outcome document that would be worthy of our heads of state and government signing.” Rio+20 Secretary-General Sha Zukang is similarly optimistic, citing his observation of “a real willingness to find common ground.”
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