Rio+20 logo from conference brochure (pdf).

In advancing the goal of achieving sustainable development around the world, Rio de Janeiro will host the 20th annual United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil from June 20-22.
Following the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 is a high-level conference centered on seven critical global issues in an effort to address sustainable development initiatives from previous summits and “secure renewed political commitment” for sustainable development.

Rio+20 will converge on the themes of a “green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication” and “the institutional framework for sustainable development.”

The seven critical issues at Rio+20 are: Jobs, energy, cities, food, water, oceans, and disasters. Attendees will convene to discuss issues such as “green jobs,” focusing on positions in agriculture and industry aimed at preserving the environment; sustainable energy as a means to strengthen economies; and the building of community resilience in the face of disasters.

Three preparatory meetings were held prior to the conference, the first in May 2010. A 10-member bureau was elected at the first meeting to guide the process in preparing for Rio+20.

In May 2010, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon elected Sha Zukang as secretary-general for Rio+20, who currently heads the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

“Sustainable development is not an option,” Zukang says in a conference brochure. “It is the only path that allows all of humanity to share a decent life on this, one planet. Rio+20 gives our generation the opportunity to choose this path.”
For more information, see the Rio+ website.