UN Photo/Milton Grant

Keywords: Green economy (1 hits),

The Members of the Club of Madrid, all democratic former Heads of State and Government,

- having regard to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, which will focus on two themes: ?a Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication? and ?the institutional framework for sustainable development?,

- having regard to the international environmental related processes, specially the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),

- recognizing that although progress towards sustainable development has been made since the Rio Summit in 1992, there are still important implementing challenges that need to be faced.

- acknowledging that the objectives of the Rio+20 Conference will be to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development; to assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development; and to address new and emerging challenges;

- recognizing that improving international economic and environmental governance is an equally central issue. Many legitimate actors have been working to conclude crucial international agreements within the existing multilateral structures. In this regard, the Club of Madrid calls to take a strong political stance towards the rapid conclusion of ongoing international negotiations, particularly the climate change negotiations within the UNFCCC, and the Rio+20 process.

- acknowledging the work the Club de Madrid is developing in the programmatic areas of Energy and Climate Change, and Social Cohesion through its Shared Societies project, the Club de Madrid recalls the equal importance of the social pillar, together with the environmental and economic ones, to foster Sustainable Development. To this aim, collaboration with UN DESA has been established within these work strands.

- welcoming that the Rio+20 Summit discusses an integrated approach to address the multiple challenges such as poverty eradication, food, employment, gender equality, climate change and energy supply; since those problems cannot be solved in isolation making cooperation ever more important;

- recalling that Chapter two of Agenda 21 forges a link between democracy and sustainable development, 2.6. Experience has shown that sustainable development requires a commitment to sound economic policies and management, an effective and predictable public administration, the integration of environmental concerns into decision-making and progress towards democratic government, in the light of country-specific conditions, which allows for full participation of all parties concerned.

- building upon the work the Club de Madrid develops in different programmatic areas and incountry project implementation, submits the following series of recommendations in specific areas for its consideration to be reflected in the document outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development

Democratic Systems

- Calls for a full implementation of democratic systems as a necessary condition for an effective sustainable development.

Food Security:

- Recommends the establishment of a comprehensive coordination mechanism within the UN system and amongst other existing international organizations that will ensure availability, access and affordability of food supplies, notably in the poorest countries of the world.

- Stresses the need to address the interrelated challenge of poverty reduction and food security through integrated local development projects, particularly focused on smallholders and not promoting export crops at the expense of livelihood crops. In this context, particular attention should also be given to increasing the income opportunities for rural populations, especially women, and to supporting non-competitive smallholders to adjust in the face of economic displacement.

- Encourages to foster public-private investments in agricultural research (especially adaptation and mitigation technologies), agribusiness, transportation, and handling and storage infrastructure networks to facilitate access to markets and reduce waste. These efforts should also be supported by ambitious actions on rural education, sanitation and health care.

- Underlines the importance to implement and boost trade and infrastructure in agricultural products so as to allow food to be moved from surplus to deficit regions. This will be particularly important in the face of the climate change challenge.

- Urges the adoption of strong mechanisms to reduce food price volatility and curb speculative tendencies, including data disclosure, coordinated regulation of derivative markets and stabilizing stocks.

- Highlights the importance to adopt improved risk management strategies for the prevention and management of food crises - from weather index-based insurance schemes to improved market and stock information, and from ?Strategic Emergency Food Reserves? (including pooled reserves) to more effective safety-nets and accessible social protection.

- Recommends to ensure financing that will generate substantial benefits and add value in host countries by agreeing on i) a code of conduct for Foreign Direct Investment in agricultural land, and ii) promoting land policies that consider social, economic and environmental concerns.

Energy:

- Urges the mobilization of global leadership for the successful and ambitious conclusion of climate change negotiations within the UNFCCC.

- Asks to ensure stable incentives during the long-term energy transition and mechanisms that will correct the adverse effects generated by fossil fuels on the climate system.

- Requests the adoption, in this regard, of strong mechanisms to reduce price volatility, including data disclosure, producer-consumer dialogue, coordinated regulation of derivative markets and stabilizing stocks.

- Calls on the fulfilment of the Pittsburgh and Seoul commitments to phase out fossil fuel subsidies whilst providing targeted support for the poor. Use the resources now being channelled into such subsidies to fund research and transfer of technologies.

- Encourages the enforcement of existing environmental regulations and ensure the establishment of construction and urban planning standards, and others that may be critical for energy efficiency.

- Urges the commitment, within a fixed timetable, to achieving universal access to electricity and modern fuels for the poor as an essential basis for eradicating poverty.

- Asks to guarantee the speedy implementation of a truly multilateral ?Green Climate Fund?, in terms of funding and management, and to establish as clear priorities of this fund the promotion of innovation and transfer of clean energy technologies to developing countries

- Emphasises the need to establish a mechanism for the acquisition of patent pools of clean energy technologies and the promotion of knowledge networks, encouraging in this regard triangular North-South-South cooperation.

Innovative Financial Mechanisms:

- Calls on developed country members to renew in Cannes their commitment to achieve the 0.7% of GNI target in Official Development Assistance (ODA) within a clear timetable and respect for the principles of aid effectiveness. It is also essential to recognise the need to build public support and understanding.

- Recognizing the growing pressures on ODA resources, recommends the support of existing mechanisms of innovative financing and encourages countries to continue pursuing initiatives in this area.

- Highlights the need for a quantitative jump in the scale of these initiatives and commit to the effective implementation of: i) international financial transaction taxes and ii) an international carbon tax, as the most promising means to secure the resources necessary to effectively address development and climate change challenges. At the same time, requests the identification of ways of using allocations of SDRs to developed countries in support of development cooperation assistance and combating climate change.

- Recognizes the importance of contributors for private-public partnerships, particularly at the national and local levels, through a holistic approach centred on local realities, targeted results, transparency and internal/external verification.

Sustainable and Shared Societies: -Calls on sustainable and shared societies as a central contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. A ?shared society? is a socially cohesive society. It is stable and safe, where all those living there feel at home. It respects everyone?s dignity and human rights while providing every individual with equal opportunity. It is tolerant and respects diversity. A shared society is constructed and nurtured through strong political leadership. -Emphasizes the need for political stability and democracy, through the involvement of all stakeholders, towards the pursuit of shared and socially cohesive societies and in order to achieve sustainable development. -Calls on an integrated approach of Shared Societies in Rio+20: addressing equality from an economic, and gender point of view, particularly looking at the rights of minorities. -Acknowledges the negative effects of climate change on the poor, and encourages the development of concrete measures to deal with economic disadvantages faced by sections of society who are discriminated against, and ensure equal access to opportunities and resources. -Emphasizes the richness of diversity including environment and culture, as well as the impact of misuse of resources on local communities, particularly on indigenous peoples. -Recommends that mechanisms for consultation with minorities and marginalized groups are effectively implemented in an inclusive and transparent manner to ensure the appropriate involvement of all stakeholders in the implementation of Sustainable Development. -Recalls the need to ensure the legal frameworks to protect the rights of the individual and prohibits discrimination based on ethnic, religious, gender or cultural difference. -Recommends that physical and urban environments create opportunities for, rather than discourage, social integration as a fundamental pillar of sustainable development -Calls on the recognition that Shared Societies, in which diverse groups and individuals are economically integrated and utilize their talents and skills tend to be more stable societies, enjoy higher economic growth than divided societies, and are best prepared to achieve sustainable development.