Rio Summit Draft Bitterly Disappointing

International Trade Union Confederation (Ituc)

Rio Summit Draft Bitterly Disappointing

Governments Have 48 Hours to Avoid Debacle

Brussels, 21 June 2012 (ITUC OnLine): The global trade union movement is bitterly disappointed at the draft Declaration presented to world leaders at the Rio+20 Summit on Wednesday, and is calling on governments to use the remaining two days of the summit to map out a pathway to avoid environmental and social destruction.

Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said, "World leaders have been presented with a draft which lacks the concrete direction needed to end senseless environmental destruction, drive investment into the green economy and guarantee social protection for all. They now have 48 hours to show the ambition and commitment needed to get the Rio Summit back on the right track and ensure that future generations inherit a sustainable economic and environmental future."

Unions are demanding that the Summit agree to integrated action on the social, environmental and economic fronts, with concrete commitments for green job creation, social protection and environmental regulation, currently absent from the proposed Summit outcomes.

"The proposals which have been tabled will not drive real change to the current economic model, which is based on the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and inequality. They represent a step back on environmental regulation and women's rights, and fail to bind governments to do what is needed to build an equitable and sustainable future for the planet, including concrete measures for technology transfer to poorer nations," said Burrow. "We are pressing the leaders assembled in Rio to use the final two days of the Summit to show real leadership and avoid yet another failure of global governance."

The draft document avoids commitments to generate social and environmental investment such as through a financial transactions tax, and replaces earlier commitments on protection of natural resources, poverty eradication and renewable energy into vague aspirations. It also fails to make any commitment to establish an international agency to drive forward sustainable development.

To read the ITUC statement issued yesterday in Rio: http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-statement-on-the-rio,11586.html

The ITUC represents 175 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 308 national affiliates.

Website: http://www.ituc-csi.org and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

ENDS

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