In a couple of days the high level meetings at the Rio+20 conference, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, are going to start. What can be expected from these debates? What could be the outcome of Rio+20? We asked Barbara Unmüßig, head of the German Heinrich Böll Foundation. She took part in the first „Earth Summit“ in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and has been following the international debates closely ever since. According to her it’s best to „be a realist“ – and not to expect too much.

Author and pictures: Kerstin Schnatz

Cups made from corn or electricity from sugar cane: Rio is eager these days to show that it can be environmentally friendly. The city is hosting the United Nations conference on Sustainable Development – better known as Rio+20. While the official part is only starting on Wednesday (June 20) the congress venue is already open for preparatory meetings and non-governmental events.

The Brazilian government is trying to make a point, it seems, of just how much it values the use of renewable resources  such as corn or sugarcane. Indeed, Brazil is well known as a biofuel-country: The standard blend cars run on consists of up to 25 percent of biofuel for example. Even the Brazilian airline that flew us in bragged about its green commitment in the inflight magazine. The carrier plans  to operate a domestic flight on biofuel especially for Rio+20.

Whilst renewable resources may emit less CO2 than fossil fuels, depending on how they are processed and transported, they can of course also create a lot of problems – monocultures, conflict between food and fuel production or soil degradation to name just a few.