10 October 2011: The Council of Environment Ministers of the EU adopted conclusions establishing the EU’s general position for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

On green economy, the Council agreed that the transition towards a green economy holds strong potential to promote long-term sustainable growth, create jobs and hence eradicate poverty. Several ministers pointed out that to effectively contribute to poverty eradication, green economy policies and measures need to take into account the demands of the poor, and that the EU should be ambitious and continue to take the lead in this process. It stressed that Rio+20 should contribute to reorienting the current models of economic growth and contribute to the adoption of a new set of indicators complementing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and which integrate economic, social and environmental dimensions in a balanced manner.

On the institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD), ministers acknowledged in general that the weakness of the current institutional framework for sustainable development hinders the effective implementation of objectives agreed at previous international conferences, and they expect therefore that one of the main operational outcomes of the Rio+20 should include a “green economy roadmap” with specific goals and actions at the international level, as well as a package of reforms leading to a strengthened international environmental governance. The Council’s conclusions call for a package of reforms to be agreed at Rio+20, including the upgrading of UNEP, a revision of the roles of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as well as enhanced involvement of the international financial institutions (IFIs) in the process.

On funding for the implementation of sustainable development policies and actions, most ministers stressed that they should come both from public and private sources, noting the need for a more effective use of existing resources and for the identification of other innovative sources of finance. A number of ministers also advocated the establishment of environment taxes and the removal of environmentally harmful subsidies. [EU Press Release] [Council Conclusions]