From the trenches: Rio +20 Begins…Unsustainably

By Timothy Herrmann | June 13, 2012

Here is an e-mail I sent out to the C-FAM staff this morning. I plan to be blogging throughout the next two weeks when I have time. Stay posted.

Hey everyone,

Well, we made it, and let me tell you, that was a feat in itself.

We have a few logistical issues to smooth out but I hope by Friday it will be smooth sailing.

As for Rio +20, here are my first thoughts:

1. It is a logistical nightmare. This morning we waited an hour and a half for the shuttle bus conference shuttle bus and it took another two hours to arrive . The idea was to go to the conference by bus to scope out the parking situation for our car. Initially we were told that only delegates would get official parking. Turns out that we might be able to park but we have to fill out a special form and submit it directly to the government. Sounds like a long shot. Pray that it works!

2. Negotiations are split up into a number of separate “working groups” each focusing on a specific issue “health, green economy, education, gender etc”. All of the delegates friends are very busy but I am hopeful that I will be able to talk to them soon in order to get a better idea of what is going on.

3. There aren’t many people here and the conference is very far from the city center/Copacabana where most delegates and people are staying. Everyone seems quite frustrated, especially the delegates given that the traffic (notoriously slow in Rio) and location are throwing off schedules and making negotiations even more stressful. In addition, very few people behind the information desks have any idea of what is going on….good ol’ Latin America!

I will get a post up about all of this as soon as I can, most likely after lunch…

Say a prayer for us!

Tim

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