Brazil strikes a balanced text, endorsed by Parties

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian President of Rio+20

19 June 2012, Rio de Janeiro -  The draft text proposed by the Brazilian presidency of Rio+20 conference was provisionally approved Tuesday morning, two hours after Brazil convened the last plenary session.

The 49-page draft text, titled “The Future We Want’ was negotiated till the early hours of Tuesday, after the ‘oceans group’ was unable to resolve a number of issues in the draft text. It’s understood, the United States and the European Union agreed to some compromises in the text for the sake of reaching a conclusion in time for the Leaders Session.

United States chief negotiator, Todd Stern said whilst the U.S is pleased with some aspects of the text, it is dismayed that ‘reproductive rights’ are not properly reflected.

In support, Canada congratulated Brazil for ‘striking the right balance’ in the text.

“Brazil showed strong leadership and listened closely to the views of Member States, which resulted in a balanced text before us today, said the Canadian representative.

Speaking on behalf of all Small Island Developing States, the chair of the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS), Ambassador Marlene Moses declared that while the draft was not perfect, it was a balanced one because it tried to reflect the diverse interests of all the States.

“For AOSIS this meeting is of special significance because it was at a similar meeting like this 20 years ago in Rio that our special case was recognized.

“The real test for the outcomes of this conference would be its implementation, said Ambassador Moses, who is Nauru’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister, Antonio de Aguiar Patriota declared the text was endorsed ad ref (provisionally) to a loud applause from members, who had spent the last six days negotiating a draft text which was originally 80 pages reduced to 49 pages.

Algeria, speaking on behalf of the largest negotiating bloc, the Group of 77 and China, welcomed the efforts made by Brazil, a member of the Group, to reach an agreed outcome.

“We have been negotiating for over a year now and today we have reached an agreement, out of respect for each other’s position. We have streamlined the text to represent our collective positions.

“G77 believes the text reflects the optimum that can be obtained from Parties. The Brazilian Presidency was able to identify a possible balance that is now in the text ready for our Leaders, said Algeria.

The High Level Segment begins Wednesday. A number of Pacific Leaders are already here in Rio to attend the Rio+20 conference.