Some progress on sustainability seen from Rio+20

Commitments on setting sustainable development goals, addressing overfishing and recognition of how climate change affects oceans are among the achievements of the Rio+20 summit, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

“Collective action is hard and global collective action is even harder but things have been progressed here,” Gillard told reporters at the conference in Rio de Janeiro, according to an e-mailed transcript. “We now want to see, following this meeting, a stronger oceans governance regime under the UN convention on the law of the sea.”

The summit has been assailed by world leaders and environmentalists for not setting strong enough goals, as heads of developing nations including China and Bolivia criticized efforts to cap fossil fuel use as a ploy by richer nations to maintain their dominance. Still, the UN obtained voluntary pledges worth $513 billion from governments and corporations for projects to reduce fossil fuel use, stimulate renewable energy, conserve water and alleviate poverty.

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