February 1, 2012

Join a Guild delegation to the Earth Summit in Rio

Deadline Sat. Feb. 4

The Environmental Human Rights Committee of the National Lawyers Guild is working to organize a small delegation of Guild members to the Rio +20 Earth Summit 2012, from June 20-22, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro. An alternative Summit, the People's Summit in Rio+20 for Social and Environmental Justice (see below for more details) will take place concurrently, organized by Brazilian civil society.

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Andrew Reid, chair of the committee, has compiled the details below regarding the Earth Summit. He is working to bring together a group to represent the NLG at this important international occasion for environmental justice and rights. Delegates will be expected to fund their hotel/hostel stays, food, and transportation within Brazil and their air travel to Rio. If you are interested in joining this delegation, please contact Andy Reid at lawyerreid@gmail.com by this Saturday, February 4.

This short timeline is necessary in order to save money on group travel reservations - if you would like to be part of this delegation, please email
Andy in order to begin the planning for this important delegation.

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Rio+20 will be held between June 20-22, 2012, at the Riocentro Convention Center (Avenida Salvador Allende 6555, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - the same place the first Earth Summit was held in 1992. It is pretty isolated and - with the exception of one hostel nearby - is pretty far from all hotels / hostels / etc.

Bolivia will, once again, be pushing for UN adoption of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth (drafted at the World's People's Conference in Cochabamba) with the help of a fair number of progressive Latin American and other developing nations from the Pacific and Africa. I expect that representatives from some of these formal UN delegations to the Earth Summit will also be appearing at the People's Summit(s).

I think the first task is to try to find a hotel / hostel that can handle all of us who will be going (I'd estimate 5-15 from the Guild and the IADL), that is hopefully nearby the alternative summit / gathering and has a bus or shuttle to Riocentro for the Earth Summit. I am attaching some initial information I got from the web on hotels and their distance from Riocentro (and cost per night - looks pretty expensive). The alternative gathering may also be making camping available. http://rio20.net/en/ and here: http://rio20.net/en/events/peoples-summit-for-social-and-environmental-justice/


The International Forum of NGO Platforms (IFP)'s Brazilian Civil Society Facilitating Committee for Rio+20 has also issued a call and is making preparations for a People's Summit - the call is attached and their planning schedule is below.
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On the way to Rio + 20

The next *United Nations * summit on *sustainable development* will be held from 4th to 6th June 2012 in* Rio de Janeiro*, 20 years after the historical summit in 1992.

According to its organizers, the objectives are to guarantee the continuity of the sustainable development politic commitments, to evaluate the progress of the admitted objectives at an international level on sustainable development, and to take up news and emerging challenges. The summit will also put the emphasis on two specific topics: a *green economy *in the context of *poverty eradication* and sustainable development, and an institutional structure which will encourage sustainable development.

The *International Seminar "Peoples Summit Rio + 20 for Social and environmental Justice"* met in Rio de Janeiro on 30th June and 1st July. There were 180 participants from 27 countries: this seminar aimed at preparing the paralleled event realization for the official Conference, provisionally called *"Peoples Planet Rio + 20 * – a meeting for social and environmental justice".

For the participants, the reason of this meeting is the worsening of the planet environmental situation and the poverty and *social inequalities growth*, caused by the actual production and consumption system, oriented towards the only benefit making. The capitalist economy, guided by the worldwide financial market, still rely on the pursuit of unlimited profit , on work overexploitation, on ecosystem destruction, etc. relying on waste, and without considering the quality of life.

The next international event before Rio + 20 will be the *Thematic Worldwide Social Forum*, dedicated to Rio + 20 preparation from 25 to 29 January 2012, in *Porto Alegre*.

* For further information:*

The Facilitation Committee of Brazilian civil society for Rio + 20 website
http://www.rio2012.org.br/

The United Nations Conference on sustainable development website
http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/

The Earth Summit website
http://www.earthsummit2012.org/

Peoples Summit website, on the way to Rio + 20
http://rio20.net/fr/

* Some steps and key-dates of the process:*

- January 2012: Thematic Worldwide Social Forum of Porto Alegre dedicated
to Rio + 20 preparation
- October 2011: 2nd Peoples Worldwide Conference on climate change
- 3-4 November 2011: G20 in Paris, France
- 2-8 November – 9 December 2011: COP17 of Durban in South Africa
- March 2012: Water Forum in Marseille, France
- 4-6 June 2012: 3 Summits: International Conference on sustainable
development, Stakeholder Forum and Peoples Summit.

*Marine Carbon*

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