54 Commonwealth head of states would have had to choose between the two events
The Brazilian government has reportedly postponed the Rio +20 earth summit by two weeks. This has been done to avoid clash of date with the diamond jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II, slated for June 5 next year to mark 60 years of her reign. Around 54 commonwealth world leaders would have had to choose between the two big events. Now the three day earth summit is expected to be held between June 20 and 22, instead of June 4-6.
The Rio + 20 summit will mark 20 years since the first Rio earth summit of 1992. The event is seen as an opportunity to renew international political commitment to sustainable development and mitigation of climate change.
Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit last week in Cannes, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff told The Guardian that the Rio summit would be postponed to avoid clash with the Queen’s diamond jubilee. However, the official website of the Rio+20 summit is still showing the earlier dates—June 4-6.
Cameron to skip Rio summit
Despite the change of dates, the United Kingdom prime minister, David Cameron, would still not attend the Rio+20 negotiations, said the official spokesperson of 10 Downing street. Cameron had earlier said that he would not be attending the Rio+20 summit because of Queen’s diamond jubilee. This is in spite of a report by Britain’s Environment Audit Committee of MPs last month, calling upon him to lead by example and attend the summit. The country's environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, would lead the negotiations.
Cameron’s move has been criticised by many green groups. Margaret Ounsely, head of public affairs at WWF-UK, is reported to have said that after the change of dates, it was hoped that the prime minister would find time from his busy schedule to address one of the biggest challenges of earth. It would sound like he was making excuses if were still unable to go, she said.
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