Post date: Jun 21, 2012 6:8:3 PM
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (JUNE 21, 2012) (REUTERS) - A key environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro gave the floor to presidents from Latin America and the Caribbean on Thursday (June 21) as governments tried to reach consensus on sustainable development.
Latin American presidents urge action at the Rio+20 U.N. Summit on Sustainable Development.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, said the conference was going in the right direction, but that now was the time for action.
"The magnitude of the goals that we have established will be the proof that the time for diagnosis and discussions is over, and that now it is time for concrete goals. The adoption of sustainable goals to achieve sustainable development means that our meeting meant something. Rio's legacy continues alive and it must continue that way for this generation and especially for the next generations. Thank you very much," he said.
Bolivia's President Evo Morales said development had to preserve ancient ways of life - not jeopardise them.
"It is not possible that the so-called 200, 300-year-old "civilization" is able to destroy the harmonious life that the indigenous people have lived for 5,000 years. This shows the enormous difference between the eastern nations, the south countries and especially the social movements that live in harmony with Mother Earth," he said.
Morales also spoke out against capitalism and that even moves to create green economies smacked of colonialism.
"Capitalism is not a solution. Now, I am afraid to tell you, that I have seriously analyzed the 'green economy.' And I repeat, the green economy is the new colonialism, to govern all people and all anti-imperialists and anti-capitalist governments," he said.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa talked about the G-20 meeting that took place in Mexico last week. Correa said the hope of a better future lies in the people protesting around the globe.
"The group of the 20 richer countries in the world met in Mexico. And probably 80 percent of the world leaders have watched this conference. Maybe, for them, this is not important. In the South, we can call the global conscience, but I believe that our level is still very below the expected. The hope is that our own citizens from the North -- who are also victims from a system that is only working because of money -- and the human beings rebel and change this relationship with the power. The "indignant" people, especially the ones from the first world, are the ones that give us hope for a new relationship with the power and justice in the world. This way we can give our children, and their children a world as pretty as this that we have received," he said.
Following Correa's speech, Haitian President Michel Martelly said poverty and lack of infrastructure was making poor countries more vulnerable.
"The extreme meteorological phenomena have gained among us great intensity and frequency. Our unique status of less developed countries in the western hemisphere, allied especially with a lack of social and material infrastructure and the inadequacy of our institutions on an economic basis, leaves us not only more exposed to the catastrophes of greater scale, but also to a stage of permanent stress due to the economic crisis, the increase of average temperature, the decrease of natural resources available to us, and lack of food security," he said..
The summit closes on Friday (June 22) when leaders are expected to ratify an agreement on sustainable development goals.