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Only Civil Society Can Save Rio+20, Say Activists By Mario Osava* RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 24, 2012 (Tierramérica) - Large-scale social mobilisation, including street protests and
parallel activities, is the only thing can save the United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) from
ending in nothing but frustration, according to activists and
analysts.
A repeat of the failure of recent conferences to negotiate an
international climate change pact seems inevitable, said Cândido
Grzybowski, the director general of the Brazilian Institute of Social
and Economic Analysis (IBASE) and one of the founders of the
World
Social Forum, the largest global civil society gathering.
Grzybowski based his pessimistic outlook on a number of factors.
Chief among them is the economic/financial crisis in the wealthy
nations, combined with the fact that this a year of elections in many
of them, including France and the United States, moving international
commitments to the bottom of their leaders’ agendas. He also blamed
what he calls the limited convening power of Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff, particularly when it comes to environmental issues.
Only strong pressure from civil society as a "unified voice" at
parallel events to Rio+20 can potentially force clearer commitments
out of the world’s governments to tackle global imbalances, beginning
with "financial hegemony", Grzybowski told Tierramérica.
The Thematic Social Forum taking place Jan. 24-29 in
the southern
Brazilian city of Porto Alegre will bring together representatives of
social movements and organisations from around the world to prepare
for their participation in the UN summit to be held Jun. 20-22 in Rio
de Janeiro.
The meeting in Porto Alegre is one of the many local forums or
gatherings addressing a specific theme that are linked to the World
Social Forum (WSF) and take place in even-numbered years. The WSF
itself is now held every two years.
However, according to Eduardo Viola, a professor at the University of
Brasilia who studies the consequences of climate change on
international relations, the WSF movement has lost strength and will
be unable to attract the numbers needed for a march that could make
Rio+20 more than a "mega-meeting" devoted exclusively to declarations
and have a "major impact on Brazil" in terms of environmental
awareness.
Bringing together "a million demonstrators on the streets" is a
"rather unlikely but not impossible" feat that could revive the
impact of the original 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which
first brought environmental issues to the attention of the Brazilian
public in a major way, Viola commented to Tierramérica.
He sees little chance of the Rio summit making a significant impact
internationally, however. It will be a largely "reiterative"
conference with "diffuse" objectives, at a time of "enormous
international impasses," he said.
But civil society actions must not be limited to Rio de Janeiro, say
activists. The Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the
Environment and Development (FBOMS) is planning to promote
demonstrations in many other cities around the world, with the aid of
the internet and social networks.
"Rio has global significance," and a great deal of successful
experience has been accumulated in the organisation of large
mobilisations through social networks, stressed FBOMS activist Ruben
Born.
The Thematic Social Forum in Porto Alegre will help to coordinate
these initiatives, with the participation of representatives of civil
society movements like the Indignados (Indignant) movement in Spain
and the Occupy movement in the United States, Born told Tierramérica.
Civil society attendance at Rio+20 is to be facilitated by the
Brazilian government, which is reportedly interested in promoting
strong "popular" participation at least, given the likely absence of
heads of state and government at the conference’s official
activities.
The People’s Summit, a parallel event to Rio+20
being held Jun. 15-
23, will bring together three times the number of participants in the
intergovernmental conference, according to observers. Its slogan,
like that of the Thematic Social Forum this month, is "Social and
Environmental Justice".
"To propose a new way of life, in solidarity, against the
commodification of nature and in defense of the commons" is the
objective of the summit, according to the Brazilian Civil Society
Facilitating Committee for Rio+20, which is organizing this major
international event.
The People’s Summit aims to build a Permanent People’s Assembly with
the goal of "reinventing the world" through the convergence of the
different struggles against capitalism, class divisions, racism,
patriarchy and homophobia. It is highly critical of the agenda of the
official conference, which focuses on the so-called green economy and
a global institutional framework.
But these views do not enjoy a consensus of support from civil
society. Born, who is also the founder of Vitae Civilis, a non-
governmental group active in climate-related issues, highlighted the
ideological discrepancies with those who consider environmental
initiatives that do not begin with the overthrow of capitalism to be
"false solutions".
Grzybowski stressed the divergence of focus between those who place
priority on environmental or social justice, categorising his
organisation, IBASE, among the latter.
Chico Whitaker, another World Social Forum founder and radical
defender of its egalitarian and participatory principles, was
critical of the name chosen for the parallel event: "People’s Summit"
maintains a traditional hierarchical vision as opposed to the
horizontal structure defended by the WSF from its very inception, he
said.
But all of them concur in their rejection of the current world order,
described as the "large-scale production industrial model" by
Whitaker, as capitalism by the members of the Civil Society
Facilitating Committee, and as financial hegemony by Grzybowski, who
also attacked such current world "disorders" as transporting millions
of tons of Brazilian iron ore to Asia and then bringing it back in
the form of steel.
And they are all critical of the official Rio+20 conference itself
and the recently released "zero draft" meant to serve as a starting
point for a final declaration, because they believe it evades the
real challenges.
The whole format of big United Nations summits is no longer viable,
said Viola. It is impossible for over 190 countries with "different
perceptions of vulnerability" and divergent interests to reach a
consensus on climate issues, he explained.
In the meantime, indigenous activists plan to express their cultural
and ethnic identity at Rio+20 by calling on their counterparts around
the world to participate in the Carioca Village to be set up in Rio
de Janeiro.
Around 350 indigenous representatives from different regions of
Brazil and 700 from abroad will gather in four "ocas" (traditional
houses), one of which will be used for plenary meetings, while
another will be equipped for videoconferencing with indigenous
peoples in other countries and continents, Marcos Terena told
Tierramérica. Terena is one of the organisers of indigenous
participation at Rio+20, reprising a role he played 20 years ago at
the Earth Summit.
*The writer is an IPS correspondent. This story was originally
published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the
Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service
produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development
Programme, United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.
(END)
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