The Worldwatch Institute at Rio+20

Rio de Janeiro, host city of the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development. (Photo credit: Supriya Kumar)

The Worldwatch Institute, together with our affiliated organization Worldwatch Europe, is sending a delegation of 10 representatives to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20.  Before the start of Rio+20, some of us will also travel to other Brazilian cities—Sao Paulo, Recife, and Salvador de Bahia—to launch the Brazilian edition of State of the World 2012.

We are happy to work with the Ford Foundation, which has generously supported this edition of our flagship publication.  In Rio, Ford will host two important “The Sustainable and Just City” side events on sustainable and equitable urbanization on June 17 and 18.  We encourage our readers who will be in Rio to attend these events. The sessions build on events held last year to support sustainable, equitable, and inclusive urbanization in developing countries.

One of the key goals is to highlight innovative programs with regard to housing, public transport, infrastructure, residency rights and land tenure, participatory planning and governance, and to discuss how to overcome barriers to achieving more just cities.

Speakers at the two events will include:  Luis Ubiñas (President, Ford Foundation); Xavier de Sousa Briggs (Professor of sociology and urban planning at MIT); Joan Clos (UN-Habitat Director); Raquel Rolnik (UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing); Jeb Brugmann (founder of ICLEI); Carlos Muniz (Vice-Mayor and Secretary of the Environment, City of Rio de Janeiro); Jorge Bittar (Municipal Secretary of Housing, City of Rio de Janeiro).

We will also be hosting a few Worldwatch events at Rio. On June 17, Climate and Energy Program Director Alexander Ochs and Research Associate Evan Musolino will host a dinner discussion in Rio about the development of renewable energy indicators, based on their work with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). They will join IRENA Director General Adnan Amin and other leading renewable energy experts in debating key real-world, non-technical barriers to renewable energy investment, and the role new indicators can play to measure progress on removing such barriers.

On June 19, we will be hosting an official side event, organized by Worldwatch Europe. At 7:30 pm, “Voices from Europe: Build a Living Economy” will be heard at the RioCentro Exhibition & Convention Center, in Room T-6.

Later that day, Worldwatch President Robert Engelman will participate on the panel: "Natural Capital in a Green Economy – From Regional Insights to a Global Partnership." Hosted by the Nordic Council of Ministers in cooperation with UNEP,  the event will bring together a variety of international experts and policy-makers to explore what a "green" economy really means. Panelists will draw on concrete examples to discuss and debate the role of natural capital in a green economy.

Also on June 19, Nourishing the Planet project director, Danielle Nierenberg will be speaking on food waste panel hosted by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EEA) and the Ecumenical Coalition. The event will take place at 9:15 am at the Peoples Summit for Social and Environmental Justice in the Ecumenical Food Tent in the Parque do Flamengo.

On June 20, the Ford Foundation will host a panel with State of the World 2012 authors discussing key dimensions of sustainable and just cities—transportation, transparent local government, population, and green jobs. The Ford Foundation's Don Chen will moderate. 

And on the final day of the Rio+20 conference, June 22, we will have the honor of presenting State of the World 2012 with the Ford Foundation at Rio’s Palacio da Cidade, the Mayor’s official residence.  Speakers will include Mayor Eduardo Paes, Worldwatch President Robert Engelman, among others.

We hope that you can join us! Click here for more details about our events in Rio.

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