News / National
Mugabe to address Rio plenary session
20 Jun 2012 at 09:04hrs | Views
Brazilian President Dilma Roussef will today officially open the three-day United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, while the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President Robert Mugabe and other leaders will address plenary sessions afterwards.
The three-day conference marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In an interview with ZBC News, Social Services Director Sidney Mhishi said the new concept of sustainable development goals that is being pushed for by developed countries has caused much debate as poor nations are still to achieve the millennium development goals which are supposed to be attained by 2015.
"Developing countries have made substantial progress towards achievement of the MDGs, although the progress is highly variable across goals, countries, and regions.
"Mainly because of startling economic growth in China, developing countries have cut the poverty rate by half between 1990 and 2010. Some countries will achieve all or most of the MDGs, whereas others will achieve very few."
He added, "By 2015, most countries will have made meaningful progress towards most of the goals."
Mr Mhishi said Zimbabwe has been working hard to realise the MDGs particularly in health and education.
"Moreover, for more than a decade, the MDGs have remained a focus of global policy debates and national policy planning. They have become incorporated into the work of non-governmental organisations and civil society more generally.
"As Zimbabwe, we have tried under very difficult circumstances. In education and health we are faring well but more still needs to be done."
The major principle of the new sustainable development goals will be to clarify how the three dimensions of sustainable development â€" economic, environmental and social â€" depend on each other.
The MDGs focused on the final result while the sustainable development goals would focus on the drivers that need to be tackled to achieve that final outcome.
Delegates are also expected to deliberate on commitments made at the 1992 conference especially on the issue of climate change which has affected the poorer and developing countries.
With the coming in of a new concept of sustainable development goals, Africa is of the opinion that this should be embraced in the context the millennium development goals.
Experts say the developed countries should allow the poorer nations to conclude the achievement of the millennium development goals rather than coming up with new sustainable development goals.
Debate is also centered around the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, which is an international agreement with targets for industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, the RIO+20 summit, which is an important opportunity for world leaders to renew their political commitment to sustainable development, is being held during the absence of western leaders except for French president François Hollande.
Environmentalists and other political leaders attending the summit said the absence of some world leaders - U.S. president Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK Prime Minister David Cameron - will not weaken the conference as these leaders have reneged o earlier commitments on the common but differentiated responsibility which calls for those who contributed to the degradation of the earth to put more resources in its rehabilitation.
The North which was expected to fund programmes for sustainable development in Africa as agreed at the 1992 summit, have shifted goal posts and are now saying every nation should fund its development using internal resources.
The permanent representative of Zimbabwe to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Chitsaka Chipaziwa, says the Western leaders are not attending because of shame and they sent their ministers though the conference was about renewing political commitments.
The three-day conference marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In an interview with ZBC News, Social Services Director Sidney Mhishi said the new concept of sustainable development goals that is being pushed for by developed countries has caused much debate as poor nations are still to achieve the millennium development goals which are supposed to be attained by 2015.
"Developing countries have made substantial progress towards achievement of the MDGs, although the progress is highly variable across goals, countries, and regions.
"Mainly because of startling economic growth in China, developing countries have cut the poverty rate by half between 1990 and 2010. Some countries will achieve all or most of the MDGs, whereas others will achieve very few."
He added, "By 2015, most countries will have made meaningful progress towards most of the goals."
Mr Mhishi said Zimbabwe has been working hard to realise the MDGs particularly in health and education.
"Moreover, for more than a decade, the MDGs have remained a focus of global policy debates and national policy planning. They have become incorporated into the work of non-governmental organisations and civil society more generally.
"As Zimbabwe, we have tried under very difficult circumstances. In education and health we are faring well but more still needs to be done."
The MDGs focused on the final result while the sustainable development goals would focus on the drivers that need to be tackled to achieve that final outcome.
Delegates are also expected to deliberate on commitments made at the 1992 conference especially on the issue of climate change which has affected the poorer and developing countries.
With the coming in of a new concept of sustainable development goals, Africa is of the opinion that this should be embraced in the context the millennium development goals.
Experts say the developed countries should allow the poorer nations to conclude the achievement of the millennium development goals rather than coming up with new sustainable development goals.
Debate is also centered around the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, which is an international agreement with targets for industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, the RIO+20 summit, which is an important opportunity for world leaders to renew their political commitment to sustainable development, is being held during the absence of western leaders except for French president François Hollande.
Environmentalists and other political leaders attending the summit said the absence of some world leaders - U.S. president Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK Prime Minister David Cameron - will not weaken the conference as these leaders have reneged o earlier commitments on the common but differentiated responsibility which calls for those who contributed to the degradation of the earth to put more resources in its rehabilitation.
The North which was expected to fund programmes for sustainable development in Africa as agreed at the 1992 summit, have shifted goal posts and are now saying every nation should fund its development using internal resources.
The permanent representative of Zimbabwe to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Chitsaka Chipaziwa, says the Western leaders are not attending because of shame and they sent their ministers though the conference was about renewing political commitments.
Source - zbc
