Rio+20: Challenges of Development for Health and Sustainability

Abstract

Vol. 120, No. 9 EditorialOpen AccessRio+20: Challenges of Development for Health and Sustainability Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo Search for more papers by this author Published:1 September 2012https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205814Cited by:2AboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InReddit The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20; United Nations 2011) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 20–22 June 2012. This conference brought together politicians, leaders from social movements, and business representatives from around the world. One goal of the conference was to renew commitment to sustainable development and ensure the promotion of an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable future for the planet for present and future generations.The Future We Want (United Nations 2012), the zero draft of the outcome document from Rio+20, listed seven priority areas: job creation, food security, water, energy, sustainable cities, oceans, and natural disasters. Unfortunately, as pointed out in a recent editorial from The Lancet (2012), human health was hardly mentioned. This is in contrast to Rio-92, where health was viewed as a major theme in Chapter 6 of Agenda 21 (United Nations 1992). The Lancet (2012) emphasized the need to ensure that the health agenda of the past decade is completed and that new and emerging concerns that could affect human health, such as noncommunicable diseases and climate change, are considered.In the past few years, there have been many positive changes in human health and the environment. To demonstrate this point, the June 2012 issue of Ciência & Saúde Coletiva (Vol. 17, No. 6; http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_issuetoc&pid=1413-812320120006&lng=en&nrm=iso) was devoted to the changes in human health and the environment in Brazil. Articles in the issue indicated decreases in infant mortality, increases in life expectancy, and decreases in maternal mortality. In addition to these changes, deforestation and burning of forests has declined; the use of technologies that pollute has declined; inspection and surveillance mechanisms relevant to food, water, and air quality have been created; agroecology has expanded; forests have been replanted; and environmental preservations areas have been established. However, Brazil still faces immense environmental liabilities that could affect human health, including the increasing use of agricultural monoculture, continued high-volume use of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, adverse health impacts from large-scale enterprises (e.g., construction of hydroelectric power plants, sugar and alcohol production, soybean agriculture, raising of livestock), the lack of basic sanitation and solid waste treatment for much of the Brazilian population, increased deforestation and forest burning, the persistence of asbestos and heavy metals, and the unequal distribution of water or lack of clean drinking water.Many of these health-related issues are not unique to Brazil. In fact, many developed and developing countries face similar environmental challenges that are affecting or could affect human health. Although it is important to promote sustainable development in the future, there is concern about the virtual absence of health-related goals from Rio+20. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva endorses the call by The Lancet (2012) to move toward integrating health and sustainability goals in any future agenda developed by the United Nations.The author declares she has no actual or potential competing financial interests.ReferencesThe Lancet. 2012. Global health in 2012: development to sustainability [Editorial].Lancet 379(9812):19322265616. Crossref, Medline, Google ScholarUnited Nations. 1992. Agenda 21. Protecting & Promoting Human Health.Available: http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/res_agenda21_06.shtml [accessed 7 August 2012]. Google ScholarUnited Nations. 2011. Rio+20: United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.Available: http://www.uncsd2012.org/ [accessed 7 August 2012]. Google ScholarUnited Nations. 2012. The Future We Want—Zero Draft of the Outcome Document.Available: http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=12&nr=324&menu=23 [accessed 7 August 2012]. Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited By Quintana C, Olea P, Abdallah P and Quintana A (2016) Port environmental management: Innovations in a Brazilian public port, RAI Revista de Administração e Inovação, 10.1016/j.rai.2016.09.001, 13:4, (261-273), Online publication date: 1-Oct-2016. Filograna R, Godena V, Sanchez-Martinez A, Ferrari E, Casella L, Beltramini M, Bubacco L, Whitworth A and Bisaglia M (2016) Superoxide Dismutase (SOD)-mimetic M40403 Is Protective in Cell and Fly Models of Paraquat Toxicity, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 10.1074/jbc.M115.708057, 291:17, (9257-9267), Online publication date: 22-Apr-2016. Vol. 120, No. 9 September 2012Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published31 August 2012Published in print1 September 2012 Financial disclosuresPDF download License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact [email protected]. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days.