Danish minister Ida Auken, EU commissioner Janez Potocnik and Danish expert Mikkel Aaro-Hansen at the Environment Counicil this week. (Photo: European Council)

Civil society organizations from around the world are calling on the EU to unreservedly re-commit, in both letter and spirit, to the Rio principles adopted 20 years ago. EU Environment Ministers, who meet in Luxembourg on Monday 11 June, are being urged to demonstrate that EU policies and practices pursued within and outside the EU will be consistent with the principles of sustainable development.

Hanaa Edwar, interviewed by Euronews. (Image: Euronews)

With insecurity and economic hardship, Iraqis are still paying the price of years of oppression and war, and women carry a heavy burden. Human rights activist Hanaa Edwar has never stopped fighting for women’s rights, said reporter Valerie Gauriat in a special coverage for Euronews TV network.

Two weeks before the United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro (Rio2012), 18 leading civil society activists and scholars from around the globe proposed concrete measures to effectively overcome the obstacles that prevent the world population to achieve a real sustainable development that enhances social equality and protects the environment. 

In its report, the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives “describes the root causes of the multiple crises” that suffers the planet, “reconfirms the framework of universal principles and rights, reconsiders development goals and indicators, and draws conclusions for the post-2015 development agenda.”

Mohammed Idris lead a protest in Penang. (Photo: CAP)

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) warned that the beauty of this Malaysian state natural environment is slowly losing its shine due to the rapid pace of unsustainable development.

A National Civil Society Consultation on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio2012) was organized in Kathmandu by Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN, focal point of Social Watch), in collaboration with the National Planning Commission and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.