AllAfrica.com via AlertNet: The upcoming U.N. Conference on Sustainable
Development in Rio de Janeiro could be more positive for the environment than
recent international climate summits as long as it attracts enough world
leaders and tackles economic concerns as well as environmental challenges,
according to a top climate expert.
Saleemul Huq of the London-based International Institute for
Environment and Development (IIED) told AlertNet that Brazilian president Dilma
Rousseff must convince other heads of government that a global agreement can be
reached at the Rio+20 summit, and they should be part of the talks.
"The challenges are very political. (Rousseff) now has
to reassure (world leaders), 'Don't worry, we'll get everything in place, there
won't be arguments, I've talked to everybody about this'," Huq said on the
sidelines of the sixth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation
to Climate Change in Hanoi last week. "If they're confident she can pull
this off, then they'll (attend)."
As of last Friday, more than 130 heads of state, vice
presidents, heads of government and deputy prime ministers were on the speakers
list for the Rio+20 conference, from June 20-22. But some have grown weary of
environmental meetings after the disappointing 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen
where leaders failed to agree on a new, binding treaty on climate change, Huq
said. "That's really something they're afraid of and want to avoid at all
costs (in Rio)," he said....
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