In 2012, the Franciscan Family sent 60 Franciscans to participate in the People’s Summit and the Rio+20 United Nations Conference to highlight the issue of environmental justice. Led by a team of leaders from FI, these selected delegates reflected on the larger themes of sustainability, green economy, environmental and human rights, and spirituality.
The conference which took place from June 20 to 22 was aimed at renewing political commitment for sustainable development, progress evaluation and identifying emerging challenges. All stakeholders, including FI, contributed their ideas to the working document titled as The Future We Want” which outlines these agendas.
To conclude the conference, the document was closed with a $513 billion pledge toward a sustainable future and was called a “great success” by Shu Zakang, the secretary general of the Rio+20 UN Conference.
RIO+20 TWENTY YEARS SINCE THE 1992 EARTH SUMMIT © PAULO FILGUERIAS – FLICKR | CC BY-NC 2.0
However, decisions to prioritise persons over businesses were still not achieved which lead the representatives of FI and several other NGOs to voice out their disagreement of a ‘successful conference’. The executive director of FI, Sr. Denise Boyle, wrote a reflection about the reality of the process and outcome of the conference. In it, she raised the issue of the removal of sustainable decisions that carried economic implications. With no evidence of achieving the initial agendas of the conference, many NGOs and civil rights groups follow in the steps of Sr. Denise in renaming the watered down document as “The Future We Do Not Want”.
This shows the significance of FI’s participation and representation at the international level. Strengthening global networks and influencing strongest links and influential individuals in the hierarchy is the strategy employed by FI. This is indeed a valuable platform for members of FI to share its common concern for humanity and the environment with various stakeholders. Just as St. Francis felt the need to meet the Sultan of Eygpt back in his era, FI mirrors this strong belief in intergroup dialogue to achieve a common ground. FI is indeed striving towards sharing its core Franciscan values to all in their path.