Leadership from developing countries key to global sustainable development

Last week's summit has confirmed that sustainable development will only be achieved through the political leadership of developing countries.  Two and a half years ago, the Copenhagen climate change conference (COP15) ended in highly public disagreement between developed and developing nations on what was needed to prevent further global warming. What became clearer than ever at Rio +20 was that the key to global sustainable development does not lie in the logical arguments coming from proponents in the developed world, including its scientific communities.  Rather, it now lies in the combination of political muscle and imaginative thinking in the developing world, particularly the so-called "emerging economies" of countries such as Brazil, China and India. In Rio, these countries insisted, quite legitimately, that a global commitment to making the transition to "green economies" is only valid if it includes a transfer of significant financial and technical resources from the North to the South.