[Music] [Music] the spirit of Rio must embody the full awareness of the fragility of our planet the spirit of Rio must lead us to think constantly of the future our children future [Music] Rio Centro a suburb of Rio De Janeiro the United Nations conference on environment and development is about to begin thousands of diplomats environmentalists and journalists arrive for the largest un meeting ever held the aim is to seek common action to protect the planet over a 100 heads of state and government will attend no wonder it's called the Earth Summit 20 years ago the
UN conference on human environment held in Stockholm firmly placed the preservation of the planet on the world agenda in Rio environment is linked irrevocably to development morce strong who organized the 197 two conference once again accepts the challenge celebrities like Brazilian soccer star P help draw the world's attention I can wear a shirt like you P but I cannot play football like you but we are in the same team here absolutely no problem the Earth team finally after 2 years of worldwide preparations June 3rd 1992 the official [Music] opening a few miles away in Rio's
guanabara Bay another gathering an unofficial one the Viking ship Gaia sails here from Scandinavia bringing 10,000 messages from Children of many [Applause] nations the messages are added to the wishes of thousands of other children here in the global forum non-governmental organizations and environmental action groups hold their own Earth Summit under the symbolic Tree of Life to monitor the work of the official conference distinguished delegates have say that this is an historical moment however it will only be so if the Rio conference also marks a new beginning for the United Nations system for Action by States
and for the mobilization of our people's of the world we have been the most successful species ever we are now a species out of control our very success is leading us to the dangerous future that has brought us here much of the Preparatory work for the Earth Summit is based on a landmark un document the bruntland report named after prime minister Gro Harlem bruntland of Norway her theme is the need for human development which preserves the environment time is short for us to rectify the present unsustainable patterns of human development we must eradicate poverty we
must achieve greater equality within and between nations we must reconcile human activities and human numbers with the laws of nature we will all be held accountable for what we failed to agree in Rio for the first time in human history all over the world people will be able to closely monitor their leaders at work at a major conference through widespread television and other media covered the eyes and ears of the world are on the Earth Summit as it gets underway some 3,000 journalists are expected but over 9,000 media people are eventually accredited I don't know
I haven't I don't know jacqu custo is one of the many Crusaders who attend have your attention the next press briefing will be at 2:00 the minister of the environment of Germany I repeat the next press briefing will be at 2:00 for the media it's the biggest environmental story ever suggest perhap that's that the person who has the copies of the treaty go right down to the this well this is the first time ever in history that we've had a meeting of the leaders of all the nations of the earth and uh take you know
gathered to take decisions that will literally determine the future of the earth if we don't do it here and if we don't allow our common interest to override all these differences and shortterm uh uh and self you know uh narrow self-interest uh issues when are we going to do it and will there be time action to save the planet is contained in three documents brought to Rio for final negotiation the first is the Rio declaration a statement of principles to guide the relationship between human behavior and the planet and secondly Agenda 21 an action plan
to redirect economies to sustain the environment into the 21st century and beyond all areas are covered from preventing the spread of deserts to reducing poverty from managing waste to changing patterns of production and consumption and thirdly a statement of forest principles which balances the right to use forests with the need to protect protect them also at the Earth Summit two legally binding conventions recently negotiated by the United Nations are open for signing the framework convention on climate change which seeks to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases that warm the planet and threaten to raise sea
levels and a biodiversity convention requiring inventories of all living species on the planet and calling for their [Music] protection these are very fundamental changes that we're talking about they do not come easily they particularly do not come easily when they have to be negotiated with 178 Nations and many of those Nations experiencing very difficult Here and Now economic and other pressures the main committee reconciles the differences separating the Richer from the poor Nations chairman Ambassador Tommy Co from Singapore guides me things well into the night but there are many stumbling blocks among them how to
transfer technology from industrialized countries and the developing Count's need for financial help to implement Agenda 21 the matter of Financial Resources will be the Cornerstone of agenda 21 for the developing countries the attainment of a reasonably high standard of living is a target that cannot be compromised we cannot save the environment if the rich refuse to provide greater Aid to the poor and are also reluctant to improve the terms of trade Africa's external debt is the single most important factor inhibiting our developmental efforts the bulk of developing Count's incremental investment needs for environmental purposes must
come from savings that they can achieve through improved economic policies from private sector sources and from improved trade but good economic policies and greater trade alone are not enough substantially increased Aid flows are crucial if the lowincome countries are to meet their National Environmental needs we have proposed an earth increment for Ida the bank's concessional lending arm to help the poorest countries meet their environmental [Applause] objectives the need for women to play a central role in sustainable development is strongly felt at the global forum and the Earth Summit we must propose new efforts to improve
education and literacy especially among women in order to empower women to make decisions about their future about their lives and about their families increasing options for women is the key to sustainable development for everyone their full participation in society is essential for example if population increases to be contained Equity will only be achieved when women in developing countries and their counterparts in the north have the same access to family planning Services what the church opposes is the imposition of demographic policies and the promotion of methods for limiting Birds which are contrary to the objective moral
order Bel below the outstretched arms of the Monumental Christ the Redeemer on Rio's world famous corcovado leaders of the world's major religions join hands in prayer for the Earth and for the success of the Earth Summit we can do uh anything which we want we can control the the whole planet I think this is a wrong conception after all we are is a part of the nature so if you see nature you see balance you see dramatically you see change I think entire Humanity will suffer peace and Harmony however are not always evident at Rio
Central some groups are angered by the unwillingness of the United States to sign the biodiversity convention which aims at preserving all life forms we were simply discussing the fact that everyone in the United States particularly you United States are not happy with the policies of the administration today [ __ ] up you're going to get hurt the US believes the convention insufficiently protects owners of patents it's also concerned about how technology transfer to developing countries is to be financed we would have hoped that the negotiations leading up to the biodiversity convention would have confined themselves
to issues of protecting flora and fauna if they had done that we would have enthusiastically signed this convention they did not do that they addressed issues of patents and intellectual property rights this convention is for the conservation and protection of our biological diversity and not for the protection of intellectual property rights we conquer that intellectual property rights are a constraint to technology transfer and the purpose of the convention is to deal with it as such the transfer of environmentally sound technology will promote the harnessing of the enormous biodiversity of the South to the mutual advantage
of both the developed and the developing [Music] countries indigenous people from all over the world come to Rio to emphasize that their traditional ways of life support and sustain the planet they hold a conference in karioka Village outside of Rio to assert their rights for them and for many others a major concern is the future of forests just two days ago President Bush announced an ambitious initiative to fund Forest conservation in developing countries this initiative aims at no less than doubling assistance to developing countries for Forest conservation and sustainable use the leaders of indigenous groups
take their case to Rio Centro itself they call for binding commitments to limit the unsustainable commercial encroachment that is literally destroying the ecosystem they inhabit that translates into 51 million 51 million trees per day industrialized nations cut down many of their forests long ago now they see the world's dwindling Timber resources as vital habitats for valuable species and as a carbon sink to absorb greenhouse gases by contrast the countries of the South wish to continue using their Forest resources for much needed development we wish to underline the supremacy of our sovereignty over our forest we
are certainly not holding them in custody for those who have destroyed their own forest and now try to claim ours as part of the heritage of mankind where words are inadequate art takes over the creative contribution of many artists is evident throughout Rio [Music] a French Theater Company acts out the greatest of all menaces to our planet [Applause] [Music] [Applause] War for Association the streets of Rio and the global forum become an ecological World Fair just about anyone can air their hopes and dreams of saving the planet okay fine what we have here is a
solar box cooker and it's designed to to cook by using solar energy entirely it's a way of cutting down on deforestation and using a type of energy that's available to everybody advocacy groups dramatize the issues concern about the use of nuclear energy the dangers of toxic waste disposal the need for clean and renewable energy sources events stag to underline public concern about air pollution and global warming it is not just the protesters who point to the high levels of oil and coal consumption it is also an issue among official delegates 20% of the world population
are consuming 80% of its resources and are also responsible for the 75% of the emissions that pollute the atmosphere global warming resulting from prolifer ation of greenhouse gases may lead to glacial melting water expansion and sea level rise leading to dire consequences for Pacific Islands the sea level rise could anate the Marshall Islands as effectively as a nuclear bomb in an effort to prevent drastic and irreversible changes in global weather patterns the convention on climate change seeks to reduce levels of the greenhouse gases that contribute to atmospheric warming Switzerland wishes to reaffirm its determination announced
two years ago to stabilize its emissions of CO2 by the year 2000 to the level of 1990 and to reduce its emissions after the year 2000 some countries however see timetables as unrealistic with little planning to back them up why are the United States afraid of such a small country to declare declare its own reduction of carbon dioxide we we would be delighted to have Switzerland declare it that's never really been a problem we hope at the time that Switzerland declares it it would also be kind enough to tell us precisely how it intends to
do it which is what the global climate change convention sets up as a process there's been reports that the US government has been putting pressure on the governments of Austria uh Switzerland and the Netherlands not to put together an agreement uh outside of the climate convention that would commit them and perhaps some other um European nations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2000 at 1990 levels no the United States never puts pressure on anybody this is this is this is clearly a Canard however we continue to think that the notion setting targets and
timetables uh really does put the C before the horse in this exercise that there is a there is a fundamental need to determine specific and precise actions that people are going to take to improve the quality of uh of air and CO2 the framework convention is finalized but it leaves targets and timetables for future negotiation some industrialized countries are not ready to support detailed measures While others push for stricter guidelines Germany for example says an oil tax has a double benefit it will cut pollution and raise money for cleanups 25 to 30% reduction in CO2
by the Year 2005 we should ensure that this objectives is reached by placing taxes and levies on energy and CO2 event oil exporters however oppose the proposed tax we and OBC would urge that no drastic measures be adopted that would penalize oil producers before there is substantive evidence to show that these measures are right and necessary with time running out positions have to be reconciled Maurice strong conference Secretary General redoubles his efforts to build diplomatic Bridges new draft are communicated back to National capitals for guidance and clearance amendments are quickly drafted there are always new
documents to be considered over 100 million pages are produced for the summit all on recycled paper to be recycled once again after use in Rio recyclable is garbage that we can use again such as plastic cans papers and metal this is recy and what does this worker think about the Earth Summit I think it's okay until now lots of people and tourists many are worrying about ecology and nature but they are forgetting the most important the poor families all over the world the hungry the favellas in Rio de Janeiro the poor people that the government
don't take care of in the favas the squatter areas and all around the city security is tight as Rio braces for the arrival of the heads of state and government the streets are swept clean homeless children are moved to camps Rio de Janeiro presents its most agreeable face never before have so many dignitaries collected in one place over a 100 heads of state and government come to Rio the leaders provide a vital final boost to the negotiations and it means they can personally sign the conventions and add their views on the themes of the conference
the convergence of world leaders makes the UN conference on environment and development a true Earth [Applause] Summit let this be the end of selfishness let this be the end of hegemony let this be the end of callousness irresponsibility and deceit in the range of issues related to the environment perhaps the ugliest scar is the ab Poverty of over a billion inhabitants of our planet I did not come here to apologize we come to Rio prepared to continue America's unparalleled efforts to preserve species and habitat and let me be clear our efforts to protect biodiversity itself
will exceed will exceed the requirements of the treaty France approves the convention on climate and the convention on biodiversity even if it would have preferred some Bolder commitments but it is a beginning and tomorrow I hope it will go [Applause] F we commit ourselves therefore to an increase in official development Aid as soon as possible we want to see 0.7% of the gross national producted for official development assistance International cooperation should be based on respect for State sovereignty all countries large and small rich and poor strong and weak are entitled to participate in international activities
relating to environment and development on an equal footing if you do not give us money we are going to cut our forest whom are you hurting are you hurting the North or are you hurting yourselves also we are the leaders and therefore we have to assume assume our responsibilities towards our countrymen ourselves and especially towards history I don't believe people are going to allow their leaders to forget what they have done here nor what they have not done fully or adequately we have got to make sure that the road Beyond Rio is a fast track
a fast track to action a fast track to implementing what was done here is not an ire very impressive very impressive two legally binding conventions are signed the landmark climate treaty commits Nations to reducing harmful emissions as soon as possible though at the insistence of the United States it includes no specific targets or Tim taes the second historic agreement is the biodiversity convention it aims at conserving the world's dwindling inventory of living species it requires signatories to share research profits technology with the Nations whose genetic resources they use the United States has yet to sign
double signing and this unprecedented Gathering also leads to the adoption of three non-legally binding agreements the statement on Forest principles recognizing The Sovereign rights of countries to utilize their forests while minimizing the damage inflicted the Rio declaration emphasizing the protection of environment in all As aspects of Economic Development and Agenda 21 a far-reaching blueprint for Action to preserve the planet all of the attention for the last three years has been on the road to Rio now we're here at Rio and we can see that the real attention should be focused on the road from Rio
how can we use the success of the Earth Summit in symbolic and psychological terms to accomplish substantive changes in the policies that are now resulting in so much destruction of the Earth's environment the Rio Summit was not just another event it was not one more conference it was an exercise in Striking a balance between globalism and nationalism I am particularly pleased to see that the Rio Summit renew the call for eradication of poverty because I'm convinced that poverty and peace cannot coexist [Applause] bra as the leaders depart they take with them much more than agreements
statistics and facts there is also the human Dimension exemplified by the appeal of a 12-year-old girl speaking for all generations to come I am only a child yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on finding environmental answers ending poverty and finding treaties what a wonderful place this Earth would be in my life I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterflies but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see well what you do makes me cry
at night you grownup say you love us but I challenge you please make your actions reflect your words [Music] d [Music]
