Heads of state and deputy leaders from over 120 countries participating in the Rio + 20 summit will continue discussions on the second day to try and set clear goals for sustainable development and work out an action plan to achieve green growth.

The summit, comes 20 years after the first Rio Earth summit in 1992 which cleared the way for a global treaty on biodiversity, and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases, which is due to expire this year. A draft Rio+20 agreement which heads of states and ministers are debating reaffirms previous commitments by countries to eliminate harmful and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.

The text proposes launching a process to agree on sustainable development goals, or SDGs, which will likely build on and overlap with a current round of objectives known as the millennium development goals, which U.N. members agreed to pursue at least through 2015.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will address the second plenary session where he will emphasize that the Rio + 20 summit must not dilute the cardinal principles of Rio 1992, particularly the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as well as equity, which have been at the core of global sustainable development efforts.

Dr Manmnohan Singh had said that the UN Conference on Sustainable Development is an historic opportunity to give meaningful content to the paradigm of sustainable development.
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