When questioned in a recent survey about Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in 2012, two decades after the historic Earth Summit held in the same city, a mere 11 percent of Brazilians knew what it was. The survey, conducted by the Vitae Civilis Institute and the research firm Market Analysis, was aimed at measuring the Brazilian public’s knowledge of and interest in Rio+20.

Of the people interviewed, 92 percent said they believed that global warming is a serious problem, and 73 percent said they were interested in the issues that will be discussed in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro.

But with regard to the conference itself, 19 percent said they had little knowledge about it, and two out of three admitted that they had never heard of Rio+20.

"Closer analysis of the data reveals that knowledge about the conference is concentrated among the highest income and educational levels. More needs to be done for the general public to perceive Rio+20 as an event of international importance," Aron Belinky, the coordinator of Vitae Civilis, told Tierramérica.