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The Outcomes of Rio+20:
An Informal Dialogue Among Stakeholders
12 September 2012, 15:00-17:00 Room S3, WTO Headquarters

One of the clearest messages delivered by the Rio+20 conference is that, in spite of important achievements during the last two decades, much remains to be done to reset the world on a path of inclusive sustainable development. The “Future We Want” — the outcome document of Rio+20 — provides the overall state-of-play in areas of critical importance to sustainable development, and alerts the international community to the formidable challenges ahead.

> trade and environment

The purpose of this event was to gather a group of distinguished representatives of governments, and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations to share informally their perspectives on the significance of the Rio+20 outcomes, and the road ahead.  Among the questions that were addressed during this interactive event were:

  • What is the contribution of Rio+20 when compared with its predecessor 20 years ago?  What are the main achievements and where did Rio+20 fall short?
  • What signal did Rio+20 send about the capacity of multilateralism to foster progress in areas that are essential to implement sustainable development, including technology, finance, capacity building and trade?
  • What are the implications of Rio+20 for further work on green economy, green jobs and trade?  How does Rio+20 support more coordinated and coherent action across these areas of work?
  • How will Sustainable Development Goals accelerate progress along the path of sustainable development?
  • How has Rio+20 changed the international governance framework for sustainable development?

 

The event was moderated by Vesile Kulaçoğlu, Director, Trade and Environment Division, WTO.  The following speakers participat:

  • H.E. Ambassador Eduardo Muñoz Gómez, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the WTO;
    Audio 
  • Michel Tschirren, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment;
    Audio 
  • Lucas Assunção, Head, Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, UNCTAD;
    Audio 
  • Nicole Wyrsch, Special Advisor, The World Bank — European Office;
    Audio 
  • Fulai Sheng, Head, Research and Partnership Unit, UNEP;  and
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  • Mark Halle, Director, Trade and Investment and European Representative, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
    Audio 
  • Questions and Answers
     Audio