Schwarzenegger to Attend Pre Rio Summit in Geneva

By Nicoletta Zappile | 01/19/2012, 15h10

The Assembly of European Regions is organizing a conference on “The Road to Rio: Regions Building the Green Economy” in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 7th, 2012. Geneva is the chosen city for R20’s events and headquarters. Beyond its favorable position at the heart of Europe, Geneva “has a special spirit for innovative governance which could lead to global governance,” Arnold Schwarzenegger, founding Chair of R20, told the Global Journal.

The former Governor of California, along with Michèle Sabban, President of the Assembly of European Regions, and Brice Lalonde, UN Rio+20 Summit Executive Coordinator, will participate in the event, during which the “Declaration of Regions" will be adopted with a view to the Rio+20 Summit on 20-22 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

As Michèle Sabban explained to The Global Journal, R20 could benefit from the expertise of European regions in the field of renewable energy. “Emerging and developing regions are potential markets for the technologies developed within Europe. This technology transfer can truly be a win- win situation for all of us.”

“As member regions are added and projects are scaled up, the R20 will serve as a model to national governments and international institutions with blueprints for solving the climate crisis and building clean, efficient, low carbon economies,” said former Governor Schwarzenegger. “R20 is not just another NGO or network of regions, it is much more than that.” “It is a real coalition of forces which believe that climate change and green economic development can be tackled at sub-national level, and this coalition trusts us to make and achieve this required paradigm shift.”

The Conference in Geneva will be followed by the presentation of the Sustainia Award, a Nobel Prize for sustainable development to be awarded during the Summit in Rio.

(Photo © Pascal Dolémieux for The Global Journal)