Negotiations at the Rio+20 conference are stalled due to lack of consensus among the negotiators and the slow-paced talk process. Diplomats from developing nations temporarily walked out of a working group on the "green economy," underscoring the friction between the negotiating nations. --Amrutha Gayathri,
International Business Times, 15 June 2012
Negotiators from developing countries insist wealthy nations must help fund their move to sustainable development. They have proposed a global fund for sustainable development with an initial annual budget of US$30bn (£19bn). But European nations are reluctant to put cash on the table. --Jonathan Watts,
The Guardian, 15 June 2012
Diplomats at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Conference in Rio de Janeiro next week will consider proposals that would levy taxes on American families and energy industries in order to support international efforts to combat global warming, according to a draft agenda for the conference. --Joel Gehrke,
Washington Examiner, 13 June 2012
A new world disorder is increasingly evident at the Rio+20 conference as traditional blocs of international alliances break and reform, making an overarching deal "extremely difficult", the chief negotiator of the host nation warned on Wednesday. This is largely the result of a global power shift since the last Rio Earth summit 20 years ago. Instead of a single binding blueprint, this suggests the final text may be more like a menu of options and desirable outcomes that countries can choose from according to their circumstances. --Jonathan Watts,
The Guardian, 14 June 2012
By focusing on measures to prevent global warming, the advanced countries might help to prevent many people from dying. That sounds good until you realize that it means that 210 times as many people in poorer countries might die needlessly as a result – because the resources that could have saved them were spent on windmills, solar panels, biofuels, and other rich-world fixations. --Bjørn Lomborg,
Project Syndicate, 13 June 2012
The more we know about climate change the more uncertain our models become — and if scientists are not to lose the trust of the public they need to explain this, a senior climatologist has said. In one case the uncertainty means that forecasts of the future flow of the Mekong river as a consequence of climate change range from a fall of 16 per cent to a rise of 55 per cent. --Tom Whipple,
The Australian, 15 June 2012
It turns out that according to the administration, “green jobs” include: college professors teaching classes on environmental studies, clerks at bicycle repair shops, antique dealer employees, Salvation Army workers because they are selling used clothing, stores selling rare books and manuscripts, consignment shop workers, used record shop employees, garbage disposal workers, and even oil lobbyists if they are engaged in advocacy related to environmental issues.--Andrew Bolt,
Herald Sun, 13 June 2012
