Environment Commissioner, Janez Potočnik, who attended to the Rio +20 Conference on behalf of the EU and its Member States, supported the outcome document. However, he stressed that there are a number of areas where the EU would have hoped for a more ambitious outcome.

The European Commissioner for Environment, Janez Potočnik, has made a statement after his attendance to the Rio +20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, celebrated in Brazil from 20 to 22 of June. In this statement, Mr Potočnik supports the adoption of this outcome document but, there are a number of areas where the EU would have hoped for a more ambitious outcome, for instance with regard to the definition of concrete timelines for the realization of goals in the priority areas covered by the document. Recently, for example, the Committee of the Regions called for placing sustainable cities at the heart of roadmap for sustainable development.

At the same time, the EU welcomed the fact that this outcome document acknowledges the important role of the green economy in achieving sustainable development and poverty eradication. Commissioner for Environment also welcomes the document’s recognition of the need for broader measures of progress to complement GDP, and the importance of corporate sustainability reporting.

Mr Potočnik highlighted that the shared challenge between the EU and the UN is now to implement this outcome document, and ensure that Rio+20 leads to real action for sustainable development, the green economy and poverty eradication. Therefore, he added, the EU remains fully engaged in further work on defining and operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals.