Declaração do Secretário​-Geral da ONU, Ban Ki-moon, na cerimônia de encerramen​to da Rio+20 - 22 de junho de 2012

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

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STATEMENT AT CLOSING OF RIO+20

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Rio de Janeiro, 22 June2012



Your Excellency President Dilma Rousseff,

Distinguished Heads of State andGovernment,

Your Excellency Foreign Minister AntonioPatriota,

Your Excellency Mr. Nassir AbdulazizAl-Nasser, President of the General Assembly

Ministers and Heads of Delegation,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,



The speeches areover.  Now the work begins.



It has been asuccessful conference.



You – the MemberStates – the leaders of the world – have renewed your commitment to sustainabledevelopment.



I thank PresidentRousseff for her personal dedication to Rio+20 – to the future we want.



The outcomedocument provides a firm foundation for social, economic and environmentalwell-being.



It is now ourresponsibility to build on it.



Rio+20 hasaffirmed fundamental principles -- renewed essential commitments – and given usnew direction.



Here in Rio youhave agreed to establish universal sustainable development goals – to create astronger international architecture to support sustainable development.



You have affirmedthe importance of gender empowerment – the right to water and food – and theneed to address poverty.



You have adopted a10-year framework on sustainable consumption and production and acknowledgedthe potential for greening economies.



You have reachedout to civil society and the private sector to partner with you.



And they haveresponded.



Nearly 700commitments worth hundreds of billions of dollars have been publicly announcedhere in Rio by governments, multilateral development banks, the private sectorand civil society.



These huge numbersgive a sense of the scale and growth of investment going into sustainabledevelopment.



They are part of agrowing global movement for change.



Our job now is tocreate a critical mass.  An irresistiblemomentum.



Because the roadahead is long and hard.



Too many peopleremain poor, hungry and vulnerable to easily preventable disease.



And theenvironmental base that will improve their opportunities for prosperity isunder unprecedented threat.



No longer can weafford to recklessly consume scarce resources.



No longer can wecarelessly pollute fragile ecosystems.



No longer can wemortgage our future for our short-term needs.



Earlier this weeka youth representative, Ms. Brittany Trilford, reminded us that the clock isticking, and the future lies in your hands.



Here in Rio youhave recognized the challenges.



And you haverenewed your commitment to meet them – for the benefit of all humanity – nowand in the future.



I commend you andthank you.



But now the workreally begins.



Rio+20 has givenus a solid platform to build on.



And it has givenus the tools to build with.



The work startsnow.