In meetings held on the sidelines of the summit, Premier Wen Jiabao has urged developed nations to contribute more in aid to the world’s least developed countries.
Premier Wen says that developed nations should honor their commitment to increase development aid and help reduce the debt burden on least developed countries. Wen noted that 40 years ago, the UN confirmed a list of 24 least developed countries. The number has now doubled, with one-point-three billion people living under the poverty line. He says China will continue to provide aid to these countries, as should countries with advanced economies.
Yet the Chinese Premier’s calls are not easily put into practice, just as other great ideas discussed at the summit, which have later been treated with little enthusiasm by western countries.
Even certain principles of the Rio Declaration have been challenged. Some western economies struggling with debt crisis now believe the “common but differentiated responsibility” has become too heavy a burden to shoulder.
And where the green economy is concerned, developing countries are hoping to receive aid in the form of technology from richer nations, while the latter will use patents and copyrights as a shield.
Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the Third World Network, the only NGO allowed to publish daily reports of the summit, two thirds of the negotiation documents are in dispute.
The Rio+20 summit is one of the largest meetings to be hosted by the UN. Up to 50 thousand delegates have attended the summit. It comes two decades after the landmark 1992 Earth Summit which put sustainable development on the global agenda. But making pledges is easier said than done.
WWF Representative, said, “We have seen the text that the best diplomat that the planet can rally presented to the heads of states. And there are no commitments. So after 2 years of sophisticated UN diplomacy we arrived at something that will give us nothing more but more poverty. More conflict. And more environmental destruction.”
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon says it’s very difficult to reach an agreement on a final document due to differences in interests and concerns of the members. But he still hopes that whatever is committed to paper will be put into practice.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thusday. They emphasized the decision to upgrade bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
CNTV