Rio+20 ends on a low note for activists

23/06/12 08:43 CET

world news

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In a room full of joyful delegates, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff signalled the closing of Rio+20 joined with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, however many people are disappointed with the outcome of the Earth Summit.

Environmental groups are calling the event “a failure of leadership”. They’ are especially disheartened by a conclusion document that describes the green economy as just one possible route to sustainable development.

“I think we are talking about a crisis of governance, we see a real breakdown in the goals, the challenges that we are facing and the response of our world leaders,” said one environmental campaigner.

At one protest in Rio, the Brazilian president was shown as holding a cheque for one trillion US dollars, whilst oil executives struggled with the public – an indication of just how much some believe politicians are failing to protect ordinary citizens.

More about: Ban Ki-moon, Brazil, Ecology, Rio+20, Sustainable development

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