Report Rio+20 – 14th June

In the 12 th June edition of "O tempo", one of the main newspapers of Belo Horizonte, there was a full page interview about " The Future we Want," headlined "Simplifying our needs is the way to contentment" .

Rio + 20 Preparatory meeting and side events

Today Julia Grindon-Welch (BK Representative to UN in New York), Piero Musini (Yogic Farmer) and Tamasin Ramsay (BK Representative to UN in New York) attended a side-event at Rio+20. The title "Innovation and Uptake of Best Practices for Sustainable Agriculture" was heartening, yet the discussion made us aware of how peoples ideas of what 'sustainability' means differ remarkably from each other. It was expected that we would hear of new and innovative practices born from a holistic and sustainable foundation. Initiatives that no longer consider 'wellness' in terms of capital growth, but instead that measure the wellness of people, animals and nature as an integrated whole. One cannot be exploited without exploiting the other. If you sustain one, all are sustained.

With the best will in the world, initiatives born from attitudes that are based on increased profit margins for companies, that create relationships of dependency through trade, keep farmers powerless to chemical companies, and continue to promote the consumption of animals for food, is not the way to sustainable development. The presentations today promoted fertiliser use, encouraged the use of genetically engineered seed, and advocated genetically modifying cows with in-vitro embryonic genetic science so that a mother cow may bear 20 calves per year, as opposed to one.

Actions are not without their consequences and we must take care not to support initiatives that are labelled 'green' but, in practice, continues the exploitation of nature and animals. We must take the time to reflect on our mental positioning and thinking, and facilitate inner change at the deepest level, if we are to restore our relationship with the nature world to one of mutual care and benefit.

Environmental Education for Sustainable Societies

Luciana Ferraz and Sonja Ohlsson went to the Planetarium da Gávea for a meeting with the coordinating team of the II Journey on Environmental Education for Sustainable Societies and Global Responsibility . The Brahma Kumaris are taking part in this network that is part of the Education Working Group Rio + 20 and the People's Treaties for Sustainability Rio + 20. Present at the meeting was Mr. Nilo Diniz (Director of Environmental Education in the Ministry of Environment), Mrs. Moema Viezzer, (Planetary Network of the Environmental Education Treaty), Mr. Nelton Friedrich (Itaipu Binacional) and Mrs. Sheila from Paulo Freire Institute, all long term friends of BKs. There was an interview with the magazine called CIENCIA ( Science) and the newspaper Guia Folha.