Crossroads*

Envi groups slam Rio+20’s ‘green economy’

In a show of protest against “financialization of nature”, a group of environmental activists on Wednesday held a rally in Manila, Philippines to mark the first day of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), known as Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rio+20 is a two-decade follow-up to the Earth Summit in Rio, where world leaders drafted ‘green’ reforms that intersect policies on environmental protection and various economic sectors such as energy and tourism.

Philippine environmental group Kalikasan Partylist slammed the Rio+20 negotiations on the ‘green economy’, saying it will extend the commodification of environmental services for the benefit of the corporate sector.

“[The ‘green economy’] will further perpetuate the plunder of the world’s remaining natural wealth and the privatization of critical services, technologies and products through Public-Private Partnerships and similar market-driven mechanisms,” said Kalikasan Secretary-General Frances Quimpo.

Sustainable development

After the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, the concept of sustainable development gained massive recognition, influencing national policies across the globe.

“Governments are expected to adopt clear and focused practical measures for implementing sustainable development, based on the many examples of success we have seen over the last 20 years”, said UNCSD in its website.

According to Kalikasan, the introduction of sustainable development in the Philippines supported the implementation of energy laws that removed state regulations, and the Mining Act of 1995, which caused the displacement of many indigenous communities in the country.#

Report by Richard Dy/ Asian Center for Journalism