Dilma says rich nations should pay for sustainable development in poor countries

Speaking at the official opening of the Rio+20 United Nations Sustainable Development Conference, yesterday, June 20, president Dilma Rousseff sent a clear message to developed nations that opposed the immediate creation of a sustainable development fund for poor nations [instead the final document calls for the fund to begin operation in 2014 – after committee negotiations]. Dilma declared that financial promises, besides being hard to get, tend to materialize at “less than necessary levels.”

She went on to say that moving polluting factories from the North to the South was making more developed economies look cleaner. “But it leaves a heavy load and huge socio-environmental bill for developing nations. The promise of financing by the developed world for the developing world to adapt and to mitigate collateral damage have not come about at either promised or necessary levels,” declared the president.

Dilma also cited the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities with regard to the promotion of sustainable development. Rich nations know they have a greater responsibility, she said, but in practice they often refuse to accept that responsibility.

Dilma went on to point out that various commitments to reduce pollution as part of the Kyoto Protocol have not been met and that many of the goals set by the Earth Summit of 1992 (Rio-92 or Eco-92) were still on paper. “We have an obligation to change that,” she said.

According to the president, against the backdrop of the economic crisis the world is going through the temptation is to put national interests above global interests. “The political will to assume commitments is weakened. We cannot allow this to happen,” the president said.

Dilma declared that Brazil’s development model, which advances toward sustainability, allows the country to make more demands from developed nations. She said that in her opinion the Rio+20 final document makes progress in a number of areas, such as making eradication of poverty a global challenge, a pioneer effort in creating racial equality, the establishment of the High-Level Forum for sustainable development, strengthening the United Nations Environmental Program and recognition of the fact that GDP is not a sufficient metric for national wealth.

EBC has multimedia coverage (in Portuguese) of Rio+20 at its website: Acompanhe a cobertura multimídia da Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) na Rio+20.