It’s nine pm, I’m off to the Rio+20 earth summit in the morning and my wife, who’s a mean writer, is coaching me on blogging so I can get on and pack my bag. Just as I put ‘pen’ to paper, my French-speaking Mum calls to sort our her mystifying tax situation. The evening begins to drip away…
Will I need an umbrella for Brazil? Probably. Probably because we’ve been putting together a trip to the rainforest for Caroline Spelman, the environment Minister, and her Scottish counterpart, Stewart Stevenson. We want to show off the glory of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest to the Ministers, as well as a handle of journalists, and bring alive for them why its so important that we keep our rainforests standing.
Fixing the rainforest trip has been a nerve-wracker. Earlier I found myself talking to a woman in the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Brasília who spoke no English. I speak NO Portuguese. As she spoke, I tapped what I thought she said into the magical Google Translate and I think I got the jist: "Call Pedro in Rio de Janeiro."
I got hold of Pedro, a patient Brazilian diplomat, who has agreed to host our trip. At the end of our chat he casually says ‘I hope you have a plan B, because they don’t call it a rainforest for nothing’. I’m struggling to arrange a Plan A, let alone a Plan B! I’m glued to the weather forecast and thinking about umbrellas.
And now I’m panicking about arranging lunch for the Ministers. What soft drinks do Ministers like? They probably drink Perrier or softly sparkling mineral water.
But I’m excited about the trip too. We’re going to Tijuca forest in the heart of Rio. It was chopped down to grow coffee for Europeans between the 17th and 19th Centuries and this trade helped some in Rio prosper. But the King noticed that the water supply was drying up. He ordered the forest to be replanted, and hey presto - the water supply was saved as the forest regenerated.
What a fantastic story to show the Ministers. First, it how our morning coffee can have a direct impact on beloved rainforests half way round the world. And second, it shows that forests, and other healthy ecosystems, have great benefit to us directly, even if you mind less about the birds and the beasts that call them home (which of course we don’t!).
For me, this story is a little snapshot of what’s going on at the Rio+20 earth summit. Twenty years after the first Earth Summit, Governments are getting together to re-ask the big question of how we can allow people around the world to prosper, be lifted out of poverty and still decrease our impact on our pale blue dot of a planet. Easy!
More anon, adeus (Portugues for adios according to Google Translate).