Outcomes of the UN Rio+20 Earth Summit - Environmental Audit Committee Contents


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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Prepared 14 June 2013