Bill McKibben, who was back on line tweeting an hour after participating in a walkout from the official Rio+20 negotiations, reports in a Grist article on the 'listlessness" of a "lame" Rio+20.
McKibben, who tweeted of his pride in participating in the walkout, during which some 100 people handed in their official UN badges, writes:
This gathering, by contrast, is dullness defined. World leaders drone on in the plenary; the bulletin boards are covered with flyers for talks with topics like “Ecovision Turkey 2050” or “A Project for Human-based Sustainability through Ontopsychological Methodology.” The once-crowded halls are half-deserted; reporters search desperately for something, anything, to report.But against that backdrop the actual truth of this bankrupt process shone more clearly. It took, as is often the case, young people to politely point out that the U.N. has no clothes, that behind the curtain there are just small people unable to do much because of the corporate power that dominates their governments. Hillary Clinton will make a speech tomorrow — but young people really said everything worth saying this afternoon.
It is night now in Rio, and #riofail coontinues to trend on twitter as activists from around the globe amplify the message that "The Future we want is NOT here!"Reporting on today's events, in which Road to Rio notes:
Denouncing the failed Rio document as “the future corporations bought,” a swaths of youth and civil society groups have walked out of the conference center, turning in their badges as they departed. Earlier this afternoon, hundreds of people flooded the negotiating halls to hold a “People’s Assembly” to show politicians their dissatisfaction with continued preference for polluters and corporations over the people they are supposed to represent. This is an effort to ensure that Rio is not a Failure. Rio+20 needs to create a document that represents the best interests of every individual on our planet, not just the 1%. Actions towards getting rid of fossil fuel subsidies and transferring billions of dollars towards the development of renewables have been stalled. Requests by developing countries have been denied. Big points have been left out or weakened, points ranging from: protecting our oceans, ending food and water inequality, addressing climate change, and creating actual goals to help make our planet more sustainable. Meanwhile, the creation of a High Commissioner for Future Generations has been entirely removed. With our world changing at such a rapid rate, the opportunity to change the tides towards a sustainable future is now. This is our chance. Continued inaction by policy makers has left the youth and civil society with no choice but direct action. The official Youth Policy Team is providing comprehensive converage of today's action with links to multiple media resources detailing how "dissatisfaction, anger and disillusionment of civil society with the weak outcome text of the Rio+20 Summit—and the lack of willingness of heads of state to make it stronger" triggered the walkout. —has culminated today in a walkout by civil society.A mic-check by 11-year old Ta'Kaiya Blaney @ Rio+20
Follow #riofailto stay on top of developments. • @MGCY_UNCSD for upcoming statements.