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UPDATE: Excellent Interview with Felix Dodds on Issues for Rio Plus 20 Conference

Posted on March 22, 2016

We published the article below originally on September 30th, 2011. Now, nearly five years later, with most of the machinery to implement the then-theoretical Sustainable Development Goals in place, we thought it would be educational to look at our expectations as we started the process. And this paper by Felix Dodds is an excellent place to begin.

How are we doing, Felix?

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In an interview [in September, 2011] with the Society for International Development (SID), the never-reticent Felix Dodds provides a clear and succinct statement of the global environmental issues that need to be faced by the international community preparing to attend next year’s “Rio + 20,” conference.

Sorting out an irresponsible generation…ideas for RIO+20. An interview with Felix Dodds

In this interview Felix Dodds – Executive Director of Multistakeholder Forum and chair of the 64th Annual UN Conference for Non Governmental Organisations (Bonn, Sept 3-5), speaks about the latest proposals and achievements of civil society towards Rio Plus 20, introduces the Sustainable Development Goals, and suggests five key challenges ahead of us towards a more sustainable future.

How is the preparatory process going on and which are your expectations  about the Earth Summit?  

The preparatory process is going ok. For the first time in this arena the  NGOs got together well in advance and 1500 met in Bonn on 3-5 September under  the UN DPI NGO Conference and agreed unanimously in Bonn a 15 page  declaration with a set of sustainable development governance reforms and  sustainable development goals. Click here to download.

Governments have been preparing through governance sponsored meetings in  Indonesia, India and China so far which have played a key role in helping  to solidify a narrative for the Summit.   We are all inputting to the UN by November 1st when the UN will prepare a  zero draft text for the process which will start being more focused from  mid-December when the preparatory process starts to work with text.

In addition many stakeholders are working though different coalitions on  RiO+20: for governance issues, the Sustainable Development Governance Network has  been producing think pieces (see www.earthsummit2012.org ). On the area of  the green economy there are two stakeholder groups – the Green Economy  Coalition hosted at IIED and the Global Transition 2012 hosted jointly at  Stakeholder Forum and New Economics Foundation, again producing think pieces  on the green economy.

There are three conventions being promoted for Rio+20: one on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration (Access to Information, Public  Participation and Environmental Justice), one on Corporate Sustainability  and the final one on New Technologies.   The UN family is also engaged: UNEP have produced the Green Economy Report  and UNDP Human Development Report 2011 will be on Sustainability and Equity:  A Better Future for All. The World Bank Developemnt Report is on Conflict  Security and Development and of course the High Level Panel on Global  Sustainability will also come out by January 2012 to help frame Rio+20.

Could you tell us more about the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ ?

Colombia tabled the idea of Sustainable Development Goals in June and this has been  picked up by many governments, the global sustainability panel and the NGOs.  In Bonn 17 goals which covered issues such as energy, consumption, water,  blue economy, food security, public participation and information access,  forests, climate, biodiversity, livelihoods and health, were picked up and developed. This would then form  the basis of the sustainable development worlds continuation to the MDGs  review in 2015.

‘Business as usual’ and/or ‘governace as usual’…Which are the major  challenges ahead of us towards a more sustainable future ?

We face huge challenges on a number of fronts and I want to highlight five:

1.Human societies are living beyond the carrying capacity of the  planet;  2.Climate change has emerged as an out-of-control driver;  3.There is now becoming an increasing link between environment and  security;  4.Governments have still not given the UN the mandate, the resources  or the institutional capacities required to monitor and enforce  international agreements;  5.The current consumption economic model, which has brought  unprecedented prosperity to the more developed countries, has only deepened  the disparity between them and most developing countries.

The parallels of the ecological problems with the financial crisis are  clear. The banks and financial institutions privatized the gains and  socialized the losses.  We are doing the same with the planet natural capital.  Our present lifestyles are drawing down the ecological capital from other  parts of the world and from future generations.

We are increasingly becoming  the most irresponsible generation our planet has seen.  The principal goal of our economy should be to improve the lives of the  entire world’s people and to free them from want and ignorance – without  compromising the planet itself.

Felix Dodds is the Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future. He has been active at the UN since 1990 attending the World Summits of Rio Earth Summit, Habitat II, Rio+5, Beijing+5, Copenhagen+5, World Summit on Sustainable Development. From 1997-2001 he co-chaired the UN Commission on Sustainable Development NGO Steering Committee and has been a part of the Green Globe Task Force that advised the UK Foreign Minister on sustainable development issues from 1996-2005.

He has just chaired the 64th UN DPI NGO Conference on Sustainable Societies Responsive Citizens feeding into Rio +20. http://felixdodds.net.

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UPDATE: Excellent Interview with Felix Dodds on Issues for Rio Plus 20 Conference

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