Today we split into two groups. Everyone was ready for a day off, so most people went to see Jesus (really known as Cristo Redentor) in the morning. A small group of us felt that we could not leave the negotiations at this point, so we headed back to Rio Centro.
We started with negotiations for International Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD). These were quite exciting, since the revised text presented by the Brazilian government (who are now chairing this conference) has removed the paragraph discussing the establishment of a high level representative for future generations. The new text has also removed all references to public participation, meaning that delegations like ours will not have input in the future. The E.U. pushed very hard for this paragraph to be returned, but we were disappointed that the Brazilian chair was refusing in quite a rude way to allow the subject to be introduced. Although Brazil does not support this proposal, their role at this stage of the conference is to facilitate discussion, not push their own agenda.
The meeting was somewhat abruptly adjourned at around midday to reconvene at 7pm. The youth civil society representatives from the Major Group for Children and Youth immediately had a meeting to work out a strategy for lobbying delegations to push for the inclusion of the high level representative paragraph.
I left this meeting to go to the Australian Government briefing. They apologised profusely for not bringing Minties and Fantales today and assured us that there would be lots tomorrow. We asked what Australia's position on the high level representative was, and they said that while they were not advocating against it, they had a lot of concerns about scope, financing and structure that would require further discussion before they agreed.
In the afternoon we caught the free shuttle across to another venue to see Severn Suzuki speak.
Severn Suzuki was the 12 year old girl who stopped the world at the UN earth summit in Rio 20 years ago (see my first blog post). She was very realistic in her outlook. She said that she used to believe that change could come from the people alone, but that now she recognises that in order for change to be effective, people need partnerships with the public and private sectors.
We had a beautiful dinner of traditional Brazilian food, including Caipirinhas which are delicious lime, salt and sugar cocktails.
Tomorrow I am going to see Cristo Redentor. We have had so many quotes today about going to see Jesus. My favourites have been:
Why is Jesus green? (lights at night)
Why doesn't Jesus have a website?! (as we tried to figure out how to get there)
Where is she? She has gone to Jesus. I hate Jesus!
She is with Jesus. No! Jesus is with her.
Location:Rio de Janeiro
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