World leaders attending the recent Rio+20 conference agreed to promote sustainable consumption and production, but analysts say getting businesses and buyers to do just that will require far more than words on paper.
To the immense disappointment of environmental groups and even some multinational corporations, Rio+20 failed to produce binding commitments or a plan on how to strike a balance between consumer demand and the availability of natural resource.

“The current deal on the Rio table is really scraping the barrel – with woolly definitions, old ideas and missing deadlines,” said Craig Bennett, Friends of the Earth’s director of policy and campaigns. “It doesn’t come close to solving the planetary emergency we’re facing.”