Reminder: Sustainche’s Speech to the World in preparing the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Part I

Good evening, World !*

Allow me first to apologize for disturbing you. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday routine. The security of the familiar. The tranquillity of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke.

But in the spirit of commemoration we also enjoy that important events of the past usually associated with someone’s death or the end of some awful, bloody struggle are honoured with a nice celebration. Such a nice event is the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development that is scheduled to take place in Brazil on 20^th-22^nd June 2012. I, Polar Bear Sustainche, the first refugee due to climatic change to arrive in Macedonia and the first Polar Bear ever living in Namibia, I am excited to mark the 20^th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

Less than one year from today that this important conference will be officially opened by high-level representatives from all over the World, I thought we should prepare a bit for the 20^th June 2012 by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are, of course, those who do not want us to frankly speak. Even now that I talk, orders are shouted in mobile phones to remove Sustainche from the internet. Governments around the World already marvel their own magnificence and prepare documents celebrating themselves on how much they foster Sustainable Development. Journalists of monopolist boulevard media are coached to intentionally misuse the word Sustainable Development. Corrupted scientists are lined up to play their ‘experts’ role on TV and online media. Marketing specialists draft strategies to declare any kind of product in any company’s portfolio to be ‘sustainable’ and to support ‘sustainability’ in general.

Why did this happen during the past 20 years ? Because while the truncheon of disinformation may be used in lieu of conversation. Words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and, for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this World, isn’t there ?

Climate change is the overwhelming and real-existing experience for millions of people around Planet Earth, but politicians persist to ignore this global threat. Powerful Governments are even cheerful and opened Champaign bottles to celebrate the melting of my home Northern Polar World’s ice because they now can satisfy their citizens’ thirst for oil resources in those remote regions. Wars for oil continued during the past 20 years. Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression were imposed on those who tried to escape the slavery and brutal consequences of climate change, famines and internationally financed resources wars in their so-called third world countries. In particular Africa is exploited for natural resources more than ever before and today former Marxists make their private deals with capitalistic businesses. World-wide operating thieves now are allowed to name themselves ‘investors’. After the global financial and economical crisis Governments as well as private investors opened a new chapter in international neo-colonialism and land grabbing, again focussed on Africa. Despite the fact that the majority of the Earth’s population is living in rural regions, these regions are still not acknowledged to be the heart of Sustainable Development and their potentials are far away from being utilized for the benefit of locals. This in particular refers to good, clean and fair food production which is desperately needed. And, last but not least, education towards Sustainable Development is in peril, and this is although the General Assembly officially declared 2005-2014 the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

How did this happen ? Who’s to blame ? Certainly there are those who are more responsible than others and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty you need only look into a mirror.

To be concluded !

* Sustainche was obviously inspired by “V’s” televised speech 😉
“Sustainche’s Speech to the World in preparing the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Part I” was first published by Sustainche on August 4, 2011 🙂

~ by sustainche on May 22, 2012.