Poverty eradication key challenge at Rio summit

the times of india , Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Correspondent : Nitin Sethi, TNN
NEW DELHI: Should the world commit, even if notionally, to eradicate 'poverty' or only 'extreme poverty'? Or, should countries agree to 'right to food' for their people? Negotiating the final declaration of the Rio summit, the US wants to own up to responsibility of eradicating only 'extreme poverty', and not agree to absolute 'right to food' for people across the globe.

The Rio declaration, where more than 300 paragraphs are being negotiated among the 180 plus countries, has become a contentious document since the developed countries, facing an economic slowdown at domestic levels, are trying hard to wriggle out of their existing responsibilities.

Observers noted that each phrase does make a difference on the level of responsibility the developed world has to share to ensure even economic development across the world. Agreeing to 'poverty eradication' would imply that the West would have to be mindful of not just improving the lot of the people in the poorest parts of the world, but also of the poor in emerging economies.

The draft declaration says, "Eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. In this regard, we are committed to free humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency."

But the US demanded that the declaration ought to mention that "we are committed to free humanity from extreme poverty...".

Reporting from the conference, the Third World Network, a Southern think tank, noted that "the US said it did not have the flexibility to accept this right (to food)".

The G77 countries rebutted that the right to food was a globally accepted term and had been used frequently earlier as well.

But these are some of the phrases in the draft declaration, "The Future We Want" that could get resolved as the negotiations in Rio are ratcheted up to the political leadership, with nations settling for 'compromise' language. But, larger battles over use of principles like common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) are expected to go down to the wire.

The principle was agreed 20 years ago. But with CBDR becoming the biggest bone of contention in the climate change negotiations, the developed countries have pushed hard to water it down at the Rio summit. The Rio principles form the large framework under which the other international environmental negotiations take place. Consequently, diluting the principles, under the Rio framework, also ensures that the wind is taken out of the developing countries' sail at the climate talks.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Poverty-eradication-key-challenge-at-Rio-summit/articleshow/14254629.cms
 


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