As the Rio+20 summit came to an end on Friday, the issues of sustainable partnerships and women's reproductive rights took centre stage, but many other issues remain unresolved.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said women should be "empowered" to choose if and when to have children, a statement that received a round of applause.

Many other issues addressed in the conference were not received with the same level of enthusiasm, as representatives from some of the main environmental non-government organisations criticised the lack of negotiations and resolutions at the conference.

Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International said: "I think that it is criminal that we have close to a hundred heads of state come here and do not spend even one hour in negotiations with each other."