From Durban to Doha, for climate justice

As the UN climate negotiations resume in Bangkok this week, in preparation of the Doha summit later this year, the question is where the June Rio+20 conference on sustainable development has left us on climate change?

SDGs: Cutting through the fog

CIDSE's Policy and Advocacy Officer Denise Auclair about the quick rise to fame of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Lack of access to land one of the structural causes of poverty

During a side-event at the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, CIDSE’s Gisele Henriques called on governments to act on land grabbing and implement the UN-endorsed Voluntary Guidelines to Land

The gradual and devastating impact of climate change

Justin Kilcullen, Director of CIDSE's Irish member Trócaire, writes about the Rio+20 conference and Trocaire's new climate research.

Rio+20 pays lip service to sustainable development, but fails to mark a turning point

(Rio de Janeiro, 22/6/2012) The UN Conference on Sustainable Development ‘Rio+20 (20-22 June)’ failed to deliver concrete measures to tackle climate, food and financial crises, without which sustainable development remains a far away dream.

Church and civil society leaders encourage Poland and European Union to make low carbon societies reality

(Rio de Janeiro, 21 June 2012)Today, a high level delegation of Church and civil society leaders encouraged Poland to take a new path towards a more sustainable society in a meeting with Polish Under-Secretary of State for the Environment Beata Jaczewska. The delegation, organised by the international alliance of Catholic development agencies CIDSE, also urged European Commissioner Connie Hedegaard to make sure the EU reaffirms its role as climate leader to make low carbon societies a reality.

Dark clouds gather over Rio+20

In Rio de Janeiro, the differences between Copacabana and the Rocinha favela exemplify what is wrong with our world, but hopes that Rio+20 will result in bold action are fading.

Rio+20: CIDSE at the People's March

CIDSE participated in the Marcha dos Povos (People's March), organised by the People's Summit, parellel event of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development ' Rio+20' (Rio de Janeiro, 20 June 2012).

Rio+20 negotiations: Huge disappointment if current text is approved

Negotiations on the final declaration of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development are drawing to a close, with some observers reporting that a final text is ready for heads of state and government to rubberstamp. The international alliance of Catholic development agencies CIDSE denounces the current text, which fails to do what the world urgently needs for a more sustainable and just future.

High hopes, low expectations for Rio+20

In 1992 a 13 year old girl asked world leaders attending the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit to stop breaking the planet, if they weren’t able to fix it. Twenty years later leaders gather again in Rio to discuss measures to make our world more sustainable, but sadly there has been too much breaking and too little fixing in the meantime.