The UNCSD “Pre-Conference Informal Consultations led by the host country” began today. During an opening plenary, the Brazilian organizers discussed the process that they would use to facilitate consultations on the Rio+20 outcome document. As the host government and incoming president of the Rio+20 conference beginning on Wednesday, 20 June, Brazil established four negotiating groups under its coordination to facilitate consultations:
- Institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD)
- Means of implementation (MoI)
- Sustainable development goals (SDGs) and
Numerous side events continued throughout the day, UNEP related side events included:
At the Eye on Earth side event on Disaster Management , speakers addressed the issue of disaster management from the perspective of early warning systems and dissemination of timely information. It was recognized that the risk of losing hard-fought economic gains is increasing as disasters inevitably result in demolished infrastructure. Legislation, institutions and budgets need to be brought together in a coordinated way. There was a call for an comprehensive end-to-end climate early warning system that integrates existing systems and provides actionable warnings. The integration of sensor data and crowd-sourced data is an area to be addressed in enhancing the quality and accessibility of information on disaster management. It was recommended, that intelligent web maps that integrate services (data, maps, models) from different sources is an evolving area that has enormous potential and should be considered in the design of a comprehensive system.