RIO+20: Dam threatens Kenyan lake

RIO+20: Dam threatens Kenyan lake; Chinese aid under fire

BY TADASHI SUGIYAMA CORRESPONDENT

2012/06/12

A cattle breeder tends to animals at Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. (Tadashi Sugiyama)Many people make their living by fishing at Lake Turkana. (Tadashi Sugiyama)

LOIYANGALANI, Kenya -- About a 20-hour drive from Nairobi, zebras graze on the shore of a jade-green lake while the heads of hippos and Nile crocodiles break the surface of the water. Myriad birds sing by the lakeside, and lions can be seen dosing off in the distance.

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In 2012 the United Nations will convene the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio 2012 or Rio+20, hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, as a 20-year follow-up to the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that was held in the same city. The conference is organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The decision to hold the conference in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro was made by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/64/236 on 24 December 2009.^[1]