Rio+20

The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was an important milestone of international environmental policy. Its outcome – including the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification and the Agenda 21 action plan, provided a framework for the urgently necessary multilateral agreements today. However, it has neither stopped climate change nor the loss of biological diversity: We are today using up the resources of one and a half planets and carry on heating up the atmosphere.

20 years after the first Earth Summit, the international community will gather once more in Rio de Janeiro from the 20th to the 22th of June 2012. But for a greener, more equitable and more resource efficient world mere declarations will not be enough. A serious shift in priorities is needed. A greener economy is possible, but it needs to be socially just, gender equitable and democratic.

For us and our partners worldwide, Rio 2012 is a call to action and yet another chance to actively take part in the political debates on a socially and ecologically equitable future. We are searching for solutions and alternatives to the destructive model of economic growth as we have known it for the past 200 years of industrialization - for solutions that provide for a life in dignity but without destructing the natural resource basis on which we depend.

Articles

Another attempt to save the planet?

April 5, 2012 -

Green technologies in themselves will not bring about the change we need. Growth at any price must no longer be the paramount goal. Agriculture is one of the sectors in which reform is most urgent – and, at the same time, most difficult.  

Barbara Unmüßig more»

Policy Paper

The Green Economy – The New Magic Bullet?

- March 30, 2012 - In this essay, the president of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Barbara Unmuessig, critically reflects on the opportunities for and the shortcomings of the concept of a "Green Economy" to influence economic policy making globally, its relationship to the paradigm of sustainable development and the need to rethink our understanding and focus on growth. Barbara Unmüßig more»
United Nation Headquarter New York

Global Environmental Governance and Rio +20: Thinking Big – Doing Little?

 - April 11, 2011 - There is little faith in the reform of the UN system; nonetheless, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 – also known as Rio +20 – is not only to set the stage for a green economy, but also to provide an impetus for the institutional reform of the UN environmental sector. Barbara Unmüßig more»
Water buckets

Study

Women who go, women who stay: reactions to climate change

 - March 25, 2011 - Migration is a strategy to adapt to climate change, yet there are significant differences between men and women. Jenny Jungehülsing has conducted a case study in southern Mexico to put a gender focus on the discussion on migration and climate change. more»

Study

A Matter of Principle(s) - A Normative Framework for a Global Compact on Public Climate Finance

 - November 26, 2010 - How can we assure, that tax money used for public climate change finance are used as fairly, efficiently and effectively as possible? A study suggests principles and criteria that the public sector should take into account in the allocation of funds for urgent action in developing countries to adapt and reduce emissions. By Liane Schalatek more»

A Green Financial Reform to Pay the Deficit Caused by the Crisis

 - May 18, 2010 - The ecological challenges are enormous. As long as there are financial incentives that point the other way, we will not be able to solve these and other environmental problems within a market economy. State finances will have to be put on a new base. By Damian Ludewig more»

Can Economic Growth and Climate Protection be Reconciled?

 - May 17, 2010 - We have almost used up our emissions budget. Should we continue to emit at the current rate, our budget will be used up within ten years. Thus, we have to ask ourselves: Is continuous growth the right approach? Can we afford more economic growth? Is our present economic system able to increase and sustain wealth on a worldwide scale? The Böll.Thema essay by Claudia Kemfert tries to give answers to these questions.  more»

Study

Gender and Climate Change in Southern Africa

- Although various studies have focused on climate change impacts and adaptation opportunities in Africa, few have focused on the household level and in particular on gender differentiated impacts of climate change. This study, commissioned by Heinrich Böll Stiftung, provides an analysis and summary of the findings of eight case studies carried out in four southern African countries. Furthermore, the study aims to identify various policies, programmes and activities that could address these issues. more»

Publication Series Ecology, Volume 21

The Future We Want - A Feminist Perspective

March 15, 2012 - The Future We Want – the motto chosen by the UN in the run-up to the June 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) – is certainly forward-looking. Rio+20 is supposed to define routes towards a safer, fairer, greener, and cleaner world. But the blueprints for a green economy are devoid of gender perspectives. Christa Wichterich’s essay takes a closer look on the relations between feminism and ecology.  more»
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Publication Series Ecology, Volume 17

Buen Vivir: Latin America’s new concepts for the good life and the rights of nature

 - July 22, 2011 - Leftist governments in Ecuador and Bolivia have drawn up new constitutions. Buen Vivir – the right to a good life and the rights of nature – has been enshrined in these documents. Buen Vivir is based on indigenous traditions and sees itself as a concept that departs from Western paradigms of affluence. This essay describes the political genesis of a complex concept. Thomas Fatheuer more»
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Background

Rio2012 – a commented link list

April 24, 2012 - The international community will decide about the future of the international environmental architecture in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012. Another point on the agenda is the reform of UN institutions responsible for Sustainable Development. On the following page you will find a commented list of links. more»

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