Three shopping days until Rio

With three working days to go until the principals' meeting on the 20th, here is what the delegations are working on:  the "zero draft" of the conference agreement, to be known as "The Future We Want."

For the big resource issues--food, energy and water--here are the proposed commitments, extracted from the document:

"Food security
64. We reaffirm the right to food and call upon all States to prioritize sustainable
intensification of food production through increased investment in local food production,
improved access to local and global agri-food markets, and reduced waste throughout the
supply chain, with special attention to women, smallholders, youth, and indigenous farmers.
We are committed to ensuring proper nutrition for our people.
65. We call for more transparent and open trading systems and, where appropriate,
practices that contribute to the stability of food prices and domestic markets; ensure access to
land, water and other resources; and support social protection programmes.
66. We further support initiatives at all levels that improve access to information, enhance
interactions among farmers and experts through education and extension services, and
increase the use of appropriate technologies for sustainable agriculture.
Water
67. We underline the importance of the right to safe and clean drinking water and
sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.
Furthermore, we highlight the critical importance of water resources for sustainable
development, including poverty and hunger eradication, public health, food security,
hydropower, agriculture and rural development.
68. We recognize the necessity of setting goals for wastewater management, including
reducing water pollution from households, industrial and agricultural sources and promoting
water efficiency, wastewater treatment and the use of wastewater as a resource, particularly
in expanding urban areas.
69. We renew our commitment made in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI)
regarding the development and implementation of integrated water resources management
and water efficiency plans. We reaffirm our commitment to the 2005-2015 International
Decade for Action “Water for Life”. We encourage cooperation initiatives for water
resources management in particular through capacity development, exchange of experiences,
best practices and lessons learned, as well as sharing appropriate environmentally sound
technologies and know-how.
Energy
70. We propose to build on the Sustainable Energy for All initiative launched by the
Secretary-General, with the goals of providing universal access to a basic minimum level of
modern energy services for both consumption and production uses by 2030; improving
energy efficiency at all levels with a view to doubling the rate of improvement by 2030; and
doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030 through promoting
the development and use of renewable energy sources and technologies in all countries. We
call for provision of adequate financial resources, of sufficient quality and delivered in a
timely manner, to developing countries for providing efficient and wider use of energy
sources.
71. We agree that each country should work for low-carbon development. We encourage
more widespread use of energy planning tools to provide a robust framework for donors and
partners to coordinate their development cooperation efforts."

These take their place along many, many other sustainability issues, such as: quality of life in cities; green jobs; social inclusion; oceans and small island nations; natural disasters; and climate change.

What do you think?

A pessimistic thought: probably the proposed 0.7% GNP commitment from developed nations is going to be a hard sell, or if agreed to will not be honored. For the US, that would amount to $70 billion per annum. Given the state of the debt, that seems like a non-starter.

Three days to go! And the BBC has provided some insight into the disunity prior to the Rio conference. So the path to making the agreement workable will be rocky indeed.