How do we provide energy, health care
and other services to people around the world as the population grows and
resources dwindle? It’s a challenge that was front and center this June at
Rio+20, the United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
It’s a challenge the U. N. Foundation and Devex embraced in
Rio+Solutions, a high-visibility campaign that is coming to a close now.
Rio+Solutions was meant to raise awareness of key challenges — and solutions! —
in the run-up to the high-level gathering in Brazil — and it did just that.
Over the course of several month, a who’s who of leading thinkers and
doers lent their voices, suggesting innovative and sustainable ways
to improving food security, the job market, disaster preparedness, and the
environment.
Kandeh K. Yumkella, UNIDO
director-general and co-chair of the U.N. secretary-general’s High Level Group
on Sustainable Energy for All, set the tone with his guest opinion ”Sustainable
development is not possible without sustainable energy,” which
encouraged the international community to work toward sustainable energy access
for all — a U.N. goal that finally received a hearty thumbs-up from the
United States - a major coup given the U.S. position as the world’s largest
foreign aid donor.
Rio+Solutions contributors came with a
variety of backgrounds in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Rajendra
Kumar Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
highlighted the potential of renewables in ensuring energy access. Mikkel
Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen, wrote about huge impact
small, innovative gadgets can have on poverty reduction. And Rajiv Shah,
administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, called on the
aid community to shift its focus from providing relief to strengthening
resilience within the developing world.
Other contributors include Stephen
O’Brien, U.K. parliamentary under-secretary of state for international
development; Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka and chair of Get America Working; Carl
Pope, former executive director and chairman of the Sierra Club; Tensie Whelan,
president of the Rainforest Alliance; Barbara Frost, chief executive of
WaterAid; Fabien Cousteau, founder of Plant A Fish; Pape Gaye, president and
CEO of IntraHealth International.
Even a rock musician weighed in to
support the U.N.’s sustainable energy targets: Dave ‘Phoenix’ Farrell, bassist
and backup vocalist for Linkin Park.
The response from the international
community — on the Devex website and social media — was impressive.
Readers shared their own innovative solutions and engaged in spirited
back-and-forth on Facebook and Twitter. There was broad support for the
sustainable energy goals that began emerging in the run-up to Rio, but also
some concern about leadership: Will government, corporate and civil society
leaders be able to work jointly toward a future that sees positive
socio-economic change with minimal environmental impact?
World leaders left Brazil after
signing an agreement that — while perhaps not as bold as some had hoped —
can be seen as an important milestone to a more comprehensive, longer-term
agreement that is expected to emerge in the coming years. So the work is far
from over, and the international development community — you! — will
need to stay engaged to make a difference.
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