As the sun broke the skyline behind Rio Centro - the location of the global Summit on sustainable development - several black vultures flew out across the city. It didn’t seem like a good sign. Sacha and I arrived at the venue, a 10 min walk from our lodgings, collected our security passes, removed various items of attire to get through the security scanners, and entered........
....a massive complex! We knew it would be big, but this big? People everywhere, from all corners of the globe, in a huge variety of dress (formal and informal), representing so many views, so many cultures, so many hopes and aspirations.
And in that lies the problem for our elected (mainly!) leaders. How to do justice to the plethora of interests. And if this is difficult on land, the challenge is even greater for the high seas. We attended an all day Ocean’s event. It’s great to see the plight of our oceans highlighted, and such an overwhelming consensus on what urgently needs to be done, with experts from different countries and agencies illustrating the solutions to the management of these marine ‘commons’. Not only to save the fish, whales, dolphins and seabirds, but also to provide a sustainable harvest of food for people. Will our leaders take note?
There’s a small stream running through the conference grounds, between the aircraft hanger-sized buildings. Two species of egret were unconcernedly catching fish among us.
The work on the final Summit text is now being supervised by the Brazilian Government, who are busy trying to achieve widespread agreement. The big question is whether there is the political will to make the big decisions. We fear we are detecting worrying signs of lack of ambition. Let’s hope there are no metaphorical vultures gathering.