The UK's focus for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) will include a proposal called GDP+, which would encourage countries to account for the value of their natural resources and social well being, and the proposal for new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which would address food security, water and access to sustainable energy.
9 February 2012: Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), highlighted the UK’s ambitions for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), including giving prominence to valuing nature by moving away from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the sole indicator of progress, through a proposal called GDP+, which would encourage countries to account for the value of their natural resources and social well being.
Secretary Spelman also said the UK will work with Colombia on the proposal for new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address sustainability issues such as food security, water and access to sustainable energy. Reiterating the UK’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), she said the SDGs would build on the success of and complement the MDGs.
Other key ambitions highlighted were, inter alia: renewing political commitment to green growth through a high-level political declaration emphasizing that long-term sustainable growth requires efficient use of natural resources, as well as reduction of carbon emissions and poverty eradication; addressing food and water security and providing access to sustainable energy; reducing inefficient and environmentally harmful subsidies; and improving sustainability practices by business. [DEFRA Press Release]