Twenty years on from the Rio Earth summit, the environment of the planet is getting worse not better, according to a report from WWF. Swelling population, mass migration to cities, increasing energy use and soaring carbon dioxide emissions mean humanity is putting a greater squeeze on the planet’s resources then ever before. Particularly hard hit is the diversity [...]

Recognition of Women Who Make A Difference   The NGO Committee on the Status of Women held a reception on the evening of 9 May, to present the “Women Who Make A Difference” Awards for 2012.  Recipients were:          Her Excellency Mrs Edita Hrda, Czech Republic;                                                                                  Her Excellency Ms Greta Gunnarsdottir, Iceland;                                                                          Her Excellency Ms [...]

The Australian aborigine delegate manifested that his people are not recognized as “first people” in the Constitution. For this reason, lands, territories, and resources are in jeopardy for them. Aboriginal people became Australian citizens in 1967, when a separate Australian citizenship was created for the first time, despite the presence of the Aborigines from time immemorial [...]

The 11th Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues opened this morning,  7 May , marking the fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Indigenous Rights, a document which required a great deal of effort to elaborate and even more to be approved by the General Assembly in September  2007. The Permanent Forum was established by the United [...]

The sessions and events on Monday evening and Tuesday continued to focus, challenge and question how Indigenous People have been treated by Government and Church authorities particularly during the time of colonization and also on the continuing impact of the Doctrine of Discovery, on their lives today. The doctrine is considered by the Indigenous People [...]

The Indigenous speaker from the Philippines spoke of the Doctrine of Discovery in terms of the Regalian Doctrine. Under this concept private titles to land must be traced to some grant, express or implied, from the Spanish Crown or its successors, the American Government or the Philippine Republic. In a broad sense the term refers [...]

New York, 4 May—Representatives from governments negotiating the Rio+20 outcome document agreed to add another five days to their deliberations in order to bridge differences that have hampered progress to date.  The move came as the latest round of negotiations concluded with some progress made, but much work left outstanding. The negotiated document, along with [...]

Working Group I The RIO+ 20  text negotiations manifested very little support for the concept of a green economy roadmap, which was criticized for being a top-down approach that did not take into account different national circumstances and priorities. There was also disagreement on the implementation of a knowledge sharing platform, and the European Union [...]

We began Nano’s Day in the morning wishing one another a Happy Feast in the office before scurrying off to Room A of the UN for the morning briefing of the nongovernmental groups.  Ben Debrizzi of UNDP spoke about new possibilities for attendees in Rio. de Janeiro.  Maps and venues are posted on line. In [...]

Attempts To Streamline Text Of Document For “Rio + 20”   As the member states worked on the introductory text for the outcome document for RIO + 20, on Tuesday, 24 April , there was general agreement about the need to streamline the text.  In the course of reaffirming the historical documents leading up to [...]