Peoples' Sustainability Treaties

An open invitation is made to CSOs across the world to initiate and facilitate treaties on different topics they believe are necessary to be addressed at Rio+20 and beyond. The Peoples’ Sustainability Treaties is a voluntary initiative proposed through joint efforts by participating CSOs. Organizations can volunteer to initiate a treaty jointly, or participate in any existing treaty circle to give their input.

Process: The first step in formulating a treaty is to create a Treaty Circle, for respective treaty proposal, with broad geographical representation, while continuously improving membership through an outreach programme and dialogue. The draft treaties should be sent to all Treaty Circle members and subject experts and then the International Editorial Committee will conduct an editorial review. Any editorial recommendations will be forwarded to the respective Treaty Circle for further improvement through dialogue and research. Each treaty draft will be distributed widely for public comments through databases and list serves.

Treaties will be finalized prior to Rio+20 and distributed to all government delegates and stakeholders for lobbying governments, intergovernmental agencies, stakeholders and key actors of Rio+20.

Participation: Any non-profit and non-governmental civil society organizations are invited to participate as full partners in formulating a treaty. Individuals from any walk of life can participate as contributors, while any person or body, including government or business organizations, can endorse and commit to a treaty. For-profit organizations such as business and industry as well as governments, inter-governmental organizations and donor agencies are encouraged to participate by contributing to the dialogues, contributing with recommendations, and are also invited to join as supporters and sponsors.

Facilitation: A treaty on any relevant theme can be convened and facilitated by a joint alliance preferably comprised by at least one organization from the South and North, respectively. Any organization can facilitate only one treaty, but they can participate in any number of treaties. The facilitating organizations are expected to organize an outreach programme to create an open-ended treaty circle, organize online discussions and public hearings, and organize treaty dialogues in Rio+20 as part of the Treaties Platform. The process is envisioned to be a voluntary effort, and each facilitating organization will be responsible for raising required resources depending on the scope and scale of their planned activities.

Partnering: There is no limit to the number of partners for each treaty circle, and any organization fulfilling the above participation criteria can collaborate with any number of treaties. They can independently hold Public Hearings to support their Treaty Circles. Any such public hearings should be documented as evidence to each treaty.

Outreach: To engage a wider public, the treaties will be formulated in continuous consultation with CSOs and the public. For this, dialogues will be organized by treaty circles and participating actors across the world during the coming months, and whilst social and mainstream media campaigns will be run. CSOs and the public will be invited to send their input to the treaties. The organizing committees will regularly update the treaties, and the progress of producing the treaties will be showcased through continuous updates on a dedicated website.

Timeline: The treaties circles will be created and draft treaties written by April 2012. The treaties will be finalized during the month of May 2012. The Peoples’ Sustainability Treaties will be released at the end of May 2012, allowing three to four weeks of lobbying prior to the Rio+20 Summit. The treaties will be sent to governments, civil society, major groups and stakeholders across the world. Each treaty circle will lobby their governments and stakeholders accordingly. Treaties dialogues will be held during the three final PrepCom days, four sandwich days, and the three Rio+20 Summit days. The treaties will be open to the public for endorsement and adoption from the 1st of June onwards.