Does Rio+20 really care for Creation?

World leaders and powerful industry managers from the private sector are preparing to travel to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to attend the upcoming Rio + 20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

There will also be representatives from NGOs and other groups, all aiming to come together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on a planet damaged by pollution and rocked by climate change.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development takes place from the 20^th to 22^nd June to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

The Conference will focus on two themes: a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and the institutional framework for sustainable development.

It will result in a focused political document.

But the movers and the shakers of the world will not be the only ones in Rio, working hard to put forward their opinions.

Thousands of members of civil society and faith groups are participating in the Rio + 20 People’s Summit for Social and Enviornmental Justice. An event that runs alongside and overlaps the UN Conference from 13^th to 23^rd June.

Amongst the participants at Rio + 20 is Joe Rozansky OFM.

He’s the Franciscan father who heads the Franciscan Office for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation at Franciscan headquarters here in Rome.

He talks to Linda Bordoni just before setting off for Rio where he was immediately due to hold meetings with the some 60 fellow Franciscans attending the event, to exchange ideas, set down propositions, and strategise on getting their voice heard in the highest echelons of the organization.

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Fr. Rozansky explains that "as in Rio 92, there is going to be a very strong presence of civil society because in some ways civil society has been included in the preparations for Rio + 20 but in other ways it hasn't. And, he says, "people are becoming increasingly frustrated with the kinds of approach that Governments, the UN, esxpecially transnational companies are taking to these issues, so together with the UN conference there is also the People's Summit".

Fr. Rozansky says the Franciscans have a Franciscan Family NGO at the UN called Franciscans International that accompnay the process leading up to the UN congress in Rio.

But he says the Franciscans Family worldwide will be accompanying what will be going on in Rio, but also articulate some kind of strategic plan that will be able to deal with issues coming out of the Conference.

He explains that when Franciscans talk about environment, "they don't talk about environment by itself, they talk about environmental justice. And the idea is that this would include both the questions of the environment that are very near and very dear to them as Franciscans" but at the same time he says "we will not be accused as tree-huggers". Our question Fr. Rozansky says "is not just for the trees, or just for the environment, but also for the people who live in the environment".

Rozansky says that the Franciscan heritage provides ample resources to assist in this project, and notes that just like in the times of Francis and Clare in their own day, we are challenged to offer our services to help read the signs of the times in ways that will promote life in abundance for everyone and every living thing.