1 Introduction
1. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development—the 'Rio+20' Summit—took place in Rio
de Janeiro in June 2012. It marked the 20th anniversary
of the original Earth Summit, and was intended to secure renewed
political commitment for sustainable development. It focussed
on two themes: "A green economy in the context of sustainable
development and poverty eradication", and "the institutional
framework for sustainable development".[1]
At the Summit, the UN published a conclusions document, The
Future We Want, which was agreed by the states represented.[2]
2. Previously, in October 2011, we had published
a report on the Preparations for the Rio+20 Summit in which
we highlighted the need for the Government to engage civil society
and the private sector before and after the Summit and to help
the Summit achieve an ambitious agreement.[3]
The Government's Response to that report, published in January
2012, described the then forthcoming Summit "as an opportunity
to make critical progress on our global growth agenda and to address
the linked challenges of climate change, sustainable development,
natural resources use, and poverty reduction" and noted the
Government's intention "internationally, to achieve environmentally
and socially sustainable economic growth, together with food,
water, climate and energy security". [4]
3. In the lead up to the Summit, we also published
another two reports linked to the Rio agenda: A report on the
Green Economy[5]
(which we discuss further below), and a report setting out the
messages for Rio from participants at a public seminar that we
convened at St Martin-in-the-Fields.[6]
Then, in June 2012, a few days before the
Summit, we took oral evidence from Caroline Spelman MP, then Secretary
of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on the Governments
preparations for the Summit and its expectations.[7]
Our inquiry
4. Our earlier reports on the preparations for
Rio+20 focused on the global actions needed on the sustainable
development agenda. In this latest inquiry, we have examined the
Government's contribution to the conclusions of the Summit and
the actions that the Government should be taking to implement
those conclusions where the UK has particular commitments and
responsibilities.
5. After the Summit, we took oral evidence from
Aviva Investors and WWF, who had been part of the UK official
delegation, as well as representatives of other NGOs who had attended
the Summit (Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, International
Institute for Environment and Development, Globe International,
Hard Rain Project and the International Integrated Reporting Council).
6. We also sought, unsuccessfully, to take oral
evidence from the Deputy Prime Minister as the leader of the UK
delegation at Rio+20. He told us that he had given evidence on
political and constitutional reform, for which he had special
responsibility, and did not wish to set a precedent of giving
evidence to committees on other areas. He agreed to meet us informally,
accompanied by Defra and DfID ministers, but this proved difficult
to arrange. Instead, we asked the Liaison Committee to take evidence
from the Deputy Prime Minister. That session, in February 2013,
inevitably covered a range of issues, however, which allowed only
a brief examination of his role at Rio+20 and afterwards. We
had hoped to report on the Rio+20 outcomes sooner, but wanted
to provide every opportunity for the Deputy Prime Minister to
engage with us, and provide evidence, on his role before and after
the Summit. We can understand that the Deputy Prime Minister is
reluctant to be expected to give evidence to all committees simply
on account of his Government-wide representative role. But in
this case, he not only led the delegation but also announced a
new policy initiative at the Summit (on corporate emissions reporting
(paragraph 42)). His perspectives would therefore have been particularly
useful to our inquiry and it is regrettable that he declined to
give oral evidence to us in that capacity.
7. In this report
we examine the Government's role in the run up to the Summit (Part
2), and in taking forward the commitments that were produced (Part
3). Such commitments, if delivered, will help the UK play its
part at a global level in more sustainable development. But that
also requires embedding sustainable development structures and
processes across Government, to ensure that departments produce
policies and undertake operations in a genuinely sustainable way.
We are producing another report, alongside this one, on our scrutiny
of the Government's progress in embedding sustainable development.[8]
There are some clear overlaps, such as on sustainability reporting
by Government departments (an issue for that other report) and
by the private sector (a commitment made at Rio+20). The actions
needed on both the global and domestic front to drive sustainable
development complement one another and should be taken forward
together.
1 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 64/236,
para 20 Back
2
The Future We Want, UN, June 2012 (http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/futurewewant.html). Back
3
Environmental Audit Committee, Preparations for the Rio+20
Summit, Eighth Report of Session 2010-12, HC 1026 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1026/1026.pdf).
Back
4
Fifth Special Report of Session 2010-12, HC 1737, Para 10 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1737/1737.pdf). Back
5
Environmental Audit Committee, A Green Economy, Twelfth
Report of Session 2010-12, HC 1025 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1025/1025.pdf). Back
6
Environmental Audit Committee, The St Martin-the-Fields seminar
on the Rio+20 agenda, First Report of Session 2012-13, HC
75 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmenvaud/75/75.pdf). Back
7
Ev 1 Back
8
Environmental Audit Committee, Embedding sustainable development:
an update, First Report of Session 2013-14, HC 202 Back
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