Over the past two weeks, Rio has seen the biggest gathering in a decade of world leaders to discuss sustainability issues. Following on from the original Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, Rio+20 has captured the world’s attention, even at a time of multiple global crises. It is always challenging to get 193 countries to come to an agreement. And yet, at Rio, an agreement was struck that will have implications for decades to come.
The first Rio Summit created many of the processes that still dominate the sustainability agenda today, including Conventions on climate change, desertification and biodiversity. In comparison, the outcome of this summit — aimed as it was to take stock of progress, identify gaps and propose new initiatives — has inevitably felt less dramatic.
Indeed, much of the media’s coverage of Rio+20 has been filled with cynicism over the lack of ambitious outcomes in the text. Critics are right to argue that the language is often weak, urging rather than committing to action. But I believe this negativity is overdone. Indeed, from the UAE’s perspective, the Rio text, titled “The Future We Want”, contained some important results. I would like to highlight a few.
First, the introduction of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight goals agreed to in 2000 that have guided development and aid for more than a decade, have had some notable successes. But they do not yet encompass the full set of drivers of poverty and unsustainability. For example, the current MDGs do not address access to energy and only weakly address environmental degradation. The SDGs aim to fill these gaps and will have a major impact in the years to come. The UAE played a central role in shaping this outcome.
Second, the importance of sustainable energy in providing modern energy services to all is now clearly on the international agenda. The UN’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Initiative, for which I serve on the High Level Group, is clearly recognised in the text. While the importance of this issue merited a much stronger outcome in the text, I was pleased that SE4All’s three goals — of providing universal access to energy, doubling efficiency and doubling the global share of renewable energy — are now properly embedded in UN’s priorities.
Third, there is real prominence of the role of women’s empowerment in shaping a more sustainable future in the agreement. This is something that the UAE has long championed, with women increasingly driving our clean technology and innovation agendas.
Finally, the text supports greater availability and transparency of environmental information, which is essential for a better sustainability policy and decision-making. In particular, the Eye on Earth network, including the Summit Declaration, and special initiatives agreed in Abu Dhabi last year, are endorsed.
There are numerous other outcomes, but across the board it is clear that the Rio outcome will give new impetus to the sustainable development agenda. The outcomes of Rio is not an end point, but the beginning of a programme that will take time to implement.
As for the role of the UAE, Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Trade and the head of the UAE delegation to Rio, pointed out in her speech that the Rio process itself maps neatly on to milestones in our own evolution as a country. The first Rio Summit took place when the UAE was only 20 years old. Our leadership had already made great strides in advancing the country’s development, but it was very much a work in progress. We already had successes to point to sustainable development, particularly in advancing conservation, but our international role on these issues was modest.
Today, the UAE is placing itself at the forefront of the sustainable development agenda and this was highly visible in Rio.
In negotiations, the UAE has been recognised as a creative and active participant. Particularly notable has been our contribution to the SDGs. The UAE, together with Colombia and Peru, issued a concept paper in April that did much to shape the debate and our team worked closely with the Brazilian presidency to draft a viable agreement.
Equally important, the UAE has been a major driver for sustainable energy. In addition to working successfully to see the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative in the text itself, we hosted a high profile reception to promote its activities, along with the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. The announcement by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development of its first round of finance for renewable energy projects, in partnership with the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) gave particular weight to our role.
On Green Economy, another hot topic in Rio, the UAE has been a leading voice. The UAE is host to the regional office of the Global Green Growth Institute and is working with it to develop and promote a vision of green economy. This concept frames clean technology as not only an environmental investment, but as the basis for future jobs and economic growth.
In addition to our role across a range of negotiations, the UAE had an important physical presence. Our pavilion played host to a broad range of leading UAE organisations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Water, Ministry Energy, the Dubai Supreme Energy Council, the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, Masdar and many others. Together, they were able to showcase an impressive array of UAE initiatives that give real substance to our leadership role.
This leadership does not end with the Rio Summit. In Rio, the UAE was pleased to announce Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. In January 2013, this event will bring together the highly successful World Future Energy Summit with the International Renewable Energy Conference, the Irena General Assembly, the inaugural International Water Summit and the Zayed Future Energy Prize award ceremony. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week underlines the UAE’s determination to maintain the dialogue kicked off at Rio+20 and bring the world together to find solutions to our sustainability challenges.
For a young country to play such a central role in sustainable development is something we can all be proud of. Under the direction given to us by our leaders, we have been able to shape a promising future for our country and make a valuable contribution to the world.
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is the CEO of Masdar and the UAE Special Envoy for Energy and Climate.
