Has the absence of the world leaders, including US President Barrack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, undermined the Rio+Earth Summit kick starting at Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday?

The UN under secretary-general for economic and social affairs Sha Zukang, who is responsible for the summit, has issued a statement that the absence of these leaders will not affect the meet, especially since the points of view of these nations will be represented in the political document currently under negotiation