Preparations for Rio 2012

Several IEF members participated in the second meeting of the intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Rio 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, which took place at the United Nations in New York on 7-8 March, including Peter Adriance, Arthur Dahl, Duncan Hanks and Victoria Thoresen.

Arthur Dahl spoke in a high-level side event on International Environmental Governance during the PrepCom. He also facilitated a workshop during a UNEP/Stakeholder Forum seminar on governance the Sunday before the PrepCom. There were also side discussions with the Earth Charter Initiative and faith-based organizations on cooperation in preparation for Rio.

The dates of the Rio 2012 conference have been changed, and it will now be on 4-6 June 2012, with a final Preparatory Committee on 28-30 May. This means the IEF annual conference will probably take place during 1-3 June 2012. Other important events in the lead up to the Conference include the 19th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in New York, 2-13 May 2011, which should adopt a 10-year Framework of Action on Sustainable Consumption and Production. The UN Department of Public Information is organizing a conference for civil society on the conference themes in Bonn, Germany, on 2-4 September 2011. Five UN regional implementation meetings will become regional preparatory meetings for the Conference (Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, Chile, 7-9 September 2011; Asia/Pacific, Africa and West Asia still to be scheduled, and Europe, Geneva, 1-2 December 2011. Several major groups are planning conferences or regional meetings to prepare for Rio. A second Intersessional meeting of UNCSD will be held in New York for 3 days in mid-December 2011, and there will be one week each of informal negotiations in February, March and April 2012. The best opportunities for civil society inputs to the conference will be to the secretariat before 1 November 2011, and at the regional preparatory meetings.

IEF members are encouraged to become involved in conference preparations at the national level, in consultation if appropriate with national Baha'i institutions, as this will enrich our 2012 IEF conference in Rio de Janeiro. We shall try to provide resource materials on the IEF web site, and encourage you to send in anything you think is relevant to info@iefworld.org.