The leak/release of the  Rio+20 draft agenda has set of many discussions about outcomes for this anniversary summit (read the agenda all here). Of course there will be a lot of head bashing, technical work done by delegates. Fine. That is their job. But the real route to effectiveness is going to be around global narratives, rekindling the notion of the planet for normal people, perception and all that. I have a nightmare in my head that the ‘Our Common Future’ definition of sustainability of:

“…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

will be heard ad infinitum in the media etcetc, gaining traction and becoming the go-to narrative setting piece.

This (pathbreaking at its time) definition which began life incomplete, morphed to become a welcome tool for mediocre boardrooms to trot out in their unending pursuit of incremental non-gains…leading on to weak action, wanton destruction in the pursuit of near-term profits, the endless talk about embedding sustainability into business and a fatal erosion of trust between business and society – instead of the start of a  radical restructuring of our how we create wealth  and get out of the mess we are in (exhibit a-z: destroyed societies across the world , sclerotic politics, fatter fat cats, insert your favourite example of declinism here__________). Read More…