This event addressed recommendations from local and regional governments for the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20).

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, emphasizing that the fight for sustainability will be “won or lost in the cities,” said that Rio+20 must prioritize sustainable development in the broader development agenda.

Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul, called for cities to be an integral part of achieving sustainable development. Maria Luiza Ribeiro, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN, noted Brazil’s conviction that cities are “laboratories” for sustainable development.

Joan Clos, Executive Director, UN-HABITAT, underscored the need for political will to address urbanization in the context of sustainability and climate change. Ambassador Albert Chua, Co-Chair of the Friends of Sustainable Cities, outlined the work of the Friends of Sustainable Cities group, noting the proposal for an “e-platform” to encourage dialogue among stakeholders.

On the inputs to Rio+20 from local and regional governments, María Sol Corral, Deputy Mayor, Quito, called for incorporating cities within the framework of the international development agenda. David Cadman, ICLEI, suggested that cities must become the green hubs of the global economy.

Paúl Carrasco, President of the Province of Azuay, called for articulating development to achieve social justice and fairness in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Lluís Recoder i Miralles, Co-Chair for the North, nrg4SD, noted the need for a clear roadmap to a green economy with quantifiable targets and plans.

On international governance, Antonio Costa, Mayor of Lisbon, said that decentralized cooperation is an excellent vehicle for innovation and exchanging lessons learned. Zoubida Allaoua, World Bank, stressed the importance of policy over financing to drive sustainability in cities.

Sebastião Almeida, Global Fund for Cities Development (FMDV), called for governments to commit to dialogues with other actors to address current urban challenges. Gérald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal, expressed concern that city mayors may not have the opportunity to contribute in Rio+20.

In closing, Clare Short, Policy Advisory Forum, Cities Alliance, said it is “what we do after Rio+20” that makes a difference.

This event, moderated by Dirk-Jan Verdonk (WSPA), addressed sustainable agricultural practices and focused on the livelihoods of rural women, implementation in urban environments, and sustainable livestock practices.

Tlou Ramaru, Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), South Africa, discussed current policies and structures to promote sustainable agriculture in South Africa. He identified comprehensive agricultural programmes as key to ensuring capacity building, technological advancement, marketing and business development, and financing mechanisms for small farmers. 

Robynne Anderson, World Farmers’ Organisation, explained the importance of sustainable agriculture, noting that while 79% of women in developing countries consider agriculture as their primary source of livelihood, only 15% of landholders are women. She identified areas where women smallholder farmers need to be empowered including: access to marketing; access to credit; local storage facilities; land tenure; and extension services.

Regarding best practices, Judi Wangalwa Wakhungu, Biovision Foundation, discussed how agriculture and food systems can be transformed to ensure food security, protect natural resources and support equitable development, including through: a coalition of actors at all levels; creating enabling frameworks to improve the economic environment for food producers; and strengthening accountability and monitoring of performance.

Thomas Forster (IPSA), stressed the importance of urban-rural linkages for food security, explaining the need for collaboration across sectors and systems. He underscored the need for an ecosystem approach that links urban and rural environments, as well as national and international policy.

Luis Carlos Sarmiento, WSPA, stressed the importance of sustainable livestock practices, noting the impact of livestock on the global environment. He highlighted the need to include livestock when considering disaster risk reduction, explaining that many livestock are lost in disasters.

In the ensuing discussion, participants discussed, inter alia: mechanisms for food security; the agriculture-trade conflict; and ways for the Rio+20 process to make the link between rural and urban agriculture for policy makers.

This event focused on how the global governance system on sustainable development can be re-designed to become a modern innovation system and included the launch of the 15/15/15 UN Civil Society Partnership which has as its goal the development of a global vision of shared social responsibility for sustainable development which includes everybody.

Miroslav Polzer, Secretary General, IAAI, called Rio+20 a window of opportunity for radical systemic governance innovations oriented towards strengthening adaptive capacity and resilience. He identified six “high-level” functions of innovative systems: facilitating experimentation and learning; knowledge development; knowledge diffusion; guiding direction of search and selection between actors; market formation; and developing and mobilizing of resources. Polzer emphasized the need to direct these information systems into the UN. He stressed a paradigm shift for government officials to realize that through information systems, global citizens and members from civil society are able to contribute to sustainable development.

Jean Paul Brice Affana, Youth Coordinator, IAAI, spoke about youth perspectives and introduced the Rio+20 Global Youth Music Contest, a global competition for young musicians on the occasion of Rio+20. He said the guidelines had been developed by over 100 youth leaders at an international workshop held in September 2011.

Participants deliberated on: the challenges of conveying complex issues; options to give space for partnerships; the difficulty of defining who global citizens are and how to involve them; the categorization of major groups vis-à-vis local communities; the role of social forums such as the “Occupy” movement; development of international networks; and the need to produce positive outcomes to international conventions.

One participant said information is a critical element missing from the zero draft, since the internet is the natural vehicle for knowledge innovations. Another commented that the targets of 15/15/15 UN Civil Society Partnership might be too ambitious, and voiced concern about the world being excited by the apparent momentum of Rio+20, although very little progress had been made over the past twenty years.