The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, stressed that the final declaration of Rio+20 marks “the path to advance in sustainable development”, and shared the positive assessment of the European Union on this document.

Arias Cañete stressed that, despite the differences between the participants in this United Nations summit and the fact that not all the expectations of the European Union have been met, it has finally become clear that “sustainable development is of crucial importance for job creation and economic growth”, after recalling the importance of the role played in this forum by both civil society and the business sector.

“Important things have been achieved, and the text reflects aspects that we should not disdain”, stressed the Minister, who assured that “it would be a mistake to leave here with a pessimistic message”. Thus, he explained that this conference “should be seen as a starting point”, as it marks the beginning of a process to better and more efficiently apply sustainable development policies.

In his opinion, the emphasis in the near future should be on the implementation of the results and commitments reached, “not so much in the development of new declarations or instruments, but in the application of those we already have and the new elements” reached in Rio de Janeiro, which “give us tools for future work.”

For more information, see our Rio+20 microsite .