Development Conference Ends with Pledge to Future Generations
The key to achieving sustainable economic growth while preserving environmental resources will be new ideas, pragmatism and optimism about “a more prosperous future,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a speech on Friday at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, as it concluded in Rio de Janeiro.
“The most compelling products of this conference are the examples of new thinking that can lead to models for future action,” said Clinton of the conference, which attracted about 40,000 participants. She said it is time to abandon orthodox thinking on development, and hatch some innovative ideas.
The secretary of state cited several examples of recently launched U.S. initiatives designed to solve development and environment issues in nontraditional ways.