On October 2010, the European based Global Compact Local Networks signed a Declaration of Intent (DOI) in Brussels with the joint objective of increasing communication and collaboration among themselves and undertaking initiatives to confirm the Global Compact as a strong and attractive sustainability initiative (20,000 active companies by 2020 target). The European UNGC Local Network agreed to annually organize with this target a regional conference hosted at the location of a different Network each year: the last meeting took place in Rome on October 26 - 28, 2011. It was hosted by the Global Compact Network Italy.
To coordinate the business contribution at Rio+20, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the UN Global Compact have formed Business Action for Sustainable Development 2012, an inclusive coalition that will serve as business voice at Rio+20. This coalition will ensure that business is recognized as a solutions provider in the sustainability space and that it remains fully engaged in the Rio+20 process. Within this framework the UN Global Compact Local Networks have been asked by the UN Global Compact Office to support the advancing of the sustainable development agenda.
In answer to the UN Global Compact Office request, during the last Annual Local Networks Forum, held in Copenhagen on May 20, 2011, the European Local Networks agreed to deal with Public-Private Joint Efforts Towards Rio+20 in the course of the European meeting.
ABOUT RIO
In 1992, the United Nations held its Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the Conference, which came to be known as the Earth Summit, more than a 178 governments adopted Agenda 21, a program of action for sustainable development for the 21st Century. Recognizing that economic development and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive ideas, Agenda 21 outlined measures that fight poverty while preserving natural resources. Ten years later, at the Johannesburg Summit, a plan of implementation was agreed upon by participating countries, along with a commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In 2009, the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution agreeing to have a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in 2012, also referred to as "Rio+20". The three objectives of this Summit are to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the remaining implementation gaps of commitments that have already been agreed upon and address emerging challenges. The Conference will focus on two main themes, establishing a green economy within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and creating an institutional framework for sustainable development.
Rio+20 will set the sustainability agenda for the next decade. Cooperation and collaboration among public and private actors will be imperative to building synergies in interventions and ensuring that the agenda will be advanced in the most effective and efficient manner. In an increasingly dynamic socio-economic environment, companies are, indeed, more and more expected to play a prominent role as political actors within the new global governance framework. Within this context public-private joint initiatives must be considered as an extremely powerful tool.
OBJECTIVE AND THEMES
The European Global Compact Local Networks Meeting focused on public-private joint efforts for sustainable development with manifold objectives:
- Identify issues where important sustainability outcomes can be realized through public-private cooperation within the European context;
- Take stock of progress made in public-private cooperation for sustainable development since Rio 1992 and Johannesburg 2002;
- Propose innovative approaches to implement public-private cooperation towards and after Rio+20.
Clicking on each theme you can download the related position papers.
