As the world gather in Rio de Janerio, Brazil for the United Nations backed Sustainable Development Summit, Nigeria has prioritized seven key areas to focus negotiations on at the summit.

Minister of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia at a briefing to mark the 2012 World Environment Day listed the areas to include green development, energy, city planning and development, food security, clean and safe water, disaster management, job creation.

Ibrahim said that Nigeria was aligning her priorities with that of the United Nations to ensure that the nation was not left behind in the scheme of things.

She said that the country has an articulated position with input from the various stakeholders to be present at the summit. "The process leading to the Rio+20 Summit culminated in the production of a country report which has been presented to the Federal Executive Council."

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) is being organised in pursuance of General Assembly Resolution. The 2012 summit is to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 UNCED, in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.

The Summit is envisaged as a conference at the highest possible level, including Heads of State and Government or other representatives. The conference will result in a focused political document. World leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet to get to the future we want.

On the World Environment Day, the minister said that Nigeria has keyed into global efforts to address deforestation and degradation of the nation's land resources. "This initiative will provide the country access to global resources for afforestation which is significant to the development of a green economy."

The day which had the theme: Green Economy: Does it include you?- was used by the minister to recall feat achieved by the ministry in the last one year. Such feat include the implementation of the Green Wall Sahara programme which seek to increase the nation's forest coverage, the planting of 40 million assorted seedlings in the 36 states of the federation, and the establishment of integrated waste management facilities in some states of the federation.

She challenged the media to step up their contributions to sustainable development in Nigeria by bringing to the fore environment issues and celebrating those who have undertaken actions that promote sound environmental management.