The U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, was held in Rio de Janeiro on June 20-22 as a follow up to the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), also held in the Brazilian city. Since 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Kyoto Protocol have gone into force, thus deepening global consciousness and discussions on global environmental problems.
Unfortunately, the statement adopted by Rio+20, titled "The Future We Want," failed to get individual governments to express their clear political determination to resolve problems and to incorporate concrete programs.
Economic development in the 20th century was achieved at the cost of environmental destruction. To prevent a global catastrophe, it is imperative to fundamentally change the shape of economic activities and to promote the "green economy" by making serious efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to economize on the use of natural resources.