First day at the Rio+20 Conference Centre

'The Future we want. Messages from Fukushima' focuses on cases in Fukushima showing how organic farming can contribute to revitalization, sustainable development and green economy. 'Pro-poor Payments for Ecosystem Services' is an networking opportunity for popre lobbying for more fair distribution of benefits from natural resources.

The highlight of the day is 'Fair Ideas' conference organised by IIED that takes place outside of the conference centre. The conference aims at bringing into a spotlight ideas that are possible, sustainable and fair. One of the sessions focuses on biodiversity and agriculture and AgriCultures Network is going to be present there. IIED conference is streamed live at this website: http://iied.org/watch-fair-ideas-live-video-stream-conference.

According to the participants, the atmosphere in the conference center is optimistic and full of high expectations regarding official event starting on 20th June. General secretary of the UNCSD recently called governments to come 'ready to commit'. Meanwhile it has been annonced that 229 voluntary commitments has been recorded at the UNCSD website. 159 of them related to Education, 27 on Sustainable Energy, 10 on Sustainable Cities and 6 on Sustainable Transport.

The discussions about the future of agriculture in Rio de Janeiro certainly will be influenced by a compilation of four working papers on food availability, access, stability, and utilization in the context of Greening the Economy with Agriculture published last Thursday by FAO. The publication highlights the need for green jobs for smallholders, sustainability through nutritious diets, accounting for environmental and social impacts through full-cost pricing of food, and inclusive implementation through cross-sectoral cooperation. Simultaneously, in a study on energy-smart food, FAO stresses that agriculture's dependence on fossil fuels is undermining efforts to build a more sustainable world economy.

Tomorrow in the conference in Rio starts Indigenous Peoples Conference on Sustainable Development and Self-Determination. In paralell another dozen side-events will take place, all seeking to make an impact on how Green Economy is being framed.

Text: Marta Dabrowska