25 Jun 2012

Pacific NGOs label Rio+20 conference a failure

3:54 pm on 25 June 2012

A number of non-government organizations in the Pacific are viewing the United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro on Sustainable Development, as a failure.

The conference was attended by thousands of leaders from around the world but Effrey Dademo from the Papua New Guinea NGO Act Now, says from a Pacific point of view there was little value in the meeting.

Ms Dademo says from a PNG perspective the discussion on mining was disappointing, with the focus squarely on the benefits of mining rather than acknowledging its destructive nature.

She says corporations came out the winners.

"The mining text was extremely weak and mainly because of support from countries like Australia and Canada who are very much for mining, and supported by our own Pacific island countries who see mining as a key economic activity."

Act Now programme manager, Effrey Dademo.