So after twenty years at Stakeholder Forum the old order changes. The photo above is taken at the 3rd End of Era Party, if you have to go why only one party!!! It is of Koy Thompson my predecessor as Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum and Farooq Ullah the new Executive Director.
It has been interesting to reflect on Rio+20 which i had worked on for the last four years. As people may have noticed the media and some NGOs were not positive about it, well not initially. There has been more thoughtful reflection since Rio by the media and NGOs. As John Vidal of the Guardian said
"So, in the light of the vast growth in global environmental awareness and technological change that has taken place in the past 20 years, and which is bound to grow in the next 20, here are a few good reasons to look back at Rio+20 and be a little more cheerful:"
A number of NGOs did attack Rio+20 but from a very ill informed position. The text may have been lacking in inspiration but then the input to the zero draft by NGOs and other stakeholders also lacked vision. The outcomes though were good.
We saw a game changer with the agreement for sustainable development goals, a process on resource mobilisation to help bring together the financial package for such goals. There was an agreement on a new high level political forum for sustainable development and a strengthening of UNEP. The financial commitments were more than those made ten years earlier in WSSD and we saw the World Bank announce a 50 country trial of natural accounts and the science community come together under the new Future Earth programme. And i could go on.
Of course 1992 delivered more but more preparation was done and the issue of sustainable development was rising under the aftermath of the Brundtland report and the agreement on the Montreal protocol. We enter Rio+20 process with sustainable development nearly dead and the failure of two Commissions on Sustainable Development and the Copenhagen Climate Meeting.
Most roads now lead to 2015 and the work between now and then will be critical to deliver a new set of uniform goals and a new climate agreement.
As Stakeholder Forum final conference in Rio said its what happens on Monday that counts....every Monday.
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