Despite bunking off early in swot vac to check out some of the more obscure World Heritage sites lurking in the wilds of South Australia, I survived the exam which tested my knowledge of The Australian Environmental Bucket list (also see Don't forget to admire the beautiful things).
In the process of memorising large chunks of specific information, with the view to documenting it word perfectly under exam conditions, my review took me back to those heady days when folk were genuinely convinced that Sustainable Development was actually a solution to the world's dilemmas. Enter Rio Declaration 1992, diplomatically hammered out as the outcome from what was known as "The Earth Summit".
Nineteen years on, several summits later, and the planning is well underway for Rio+20 - Earth Summit 2012 by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. There are two main themes - Sustainable Development Governance and the Green Economy. If you've been listening to Australian media of late, you may have interpreted that to mean "the Nanny state will be empowered to drag us back into the caves". For the curious, here's a fine example of the current state of the debate.
How much do you really know about your country's commitments to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (which incorporates the Kyotol Protocol)? How much of your own opinion is influenced by fear of the unknown?
The World Resources Institute, in preparation for Rio+20 has released a Information Note which is well worth considering. After all, one of the key aspects of Sustainable Development is Broad Community Consultation which includes the provision of information. Ask yourself, do you have enough information about the issues that affect you environmentally, socially and economically to make informed decisions?
No comments:
Post a Comment