United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
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| United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development | |
|---|---|
| Name | United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development |
| Also known as | Rio+20 |
| Date | June 2012 |
| Location | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Organizers | United Nations |
| Participants | Heads of state, United Nations General Assembly |
| Outcome | The Future We Want |
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development The conference convened in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro as a high-level follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002). It gathered representatives from United Nations General Assembly, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Development Programme, and member states including United States, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa to negotiate a framework aimed at integrating sustainable development into international decision-making and producing the outcome document titled "The Future We Want."
Background and Objectives
Organizers framed the meeting as a response to calls from the United Nations General Assembly and echoing the agenda set at the Earth Summit and the Johannesburg Summit, with objectives including reaffirming commitments from the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and assessing progress on Agenda 21. Political drivers included pressure from coalitions such as Alliance of Small Island States, G77 and China, European Union, African Union, and advocacy groups like Greenpeace, WWF, Oxfam, and Friends of the Earth. Major issues juxtaposed at the conference involved tensions among priorities advanced by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, BRICS, and actors such as World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization.
Preparations and Participants
Preparatory processes involved bilateral negotiations led by permanent missions to the United Nations Office at Geneva and the United Nations Headquarters in New York, coordinated through the Rio+20 Bureau and the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing. High-level participation included heads of state and government from United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and regional leaders from Mercosur, ASEAN, and CARICOM. Non-state participants encompassed representatives from Business and Industry Major Group, Scientific and Technological Community Major Group, Local Authorities Major Group like C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and ICLEI, indigenous delegations from groups such as Sami Parliaments and Inuit Circumpolar Council, and civil society networks including Civil Society Mechanism and Global Witness.
Key Outcomes and Agreements
The consolidated outcome document, "The Future We Want," reflected negotiated language involving the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Convention on Biological Diversity. It endorsed the development of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to succeed the Millennium Development Goals and called for strengthened institutions including a proposed upgrade to the United Nations Environment Programme with mandates linked to Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change coordination. Financial mechanisms addressed in negotiations referenced the Global Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund, commitments from G20, and proposals such as a dedicated sustainable development financing strategy led by World Bank Group and regional development banks like the African Development Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Implementation and Follow-up Mechanisms
Follow-up frameworks relied on a mix of intergovernmental review processes through the United Nations Economic and Social Council, periodic reporting to the United Nations General Assembly, and voluntary national reviews presented at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Partnerships invoked multi-stakeholder arrangements with UN Global Compact, Global Reporting Initiative, and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative. Monitoring relied on statistical capacities of institutions like the United Nations Statistics Division and UNESCO Institute for Statistics along with science-policy inputs from International Union for Conservation of Nature, Food and Agriculture Organization, and World Health Organization to track progress on proposed indicators.
Criticisms and Controversies
Critics from Friends of the Earth International, Oxfam International, and scholars associated with United Nations Research Institute for Social Development argued that the outcome was weaker than expectations, pointing to diluted language concerning fossil fuels, biodiversity loss, and climate change obligations negotiated between United States and China. Controversies included debates over the corporate role of groups like Business and Industry Major Group, tensions between G77 and China and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members over financing, and disputes over intellectual property raised by delegations from World Intellectual Property Organization-engaged nations. Indigenous representatives such as Assembly of First Nations and Aotearoa Māori delegates critiqued consultation processes and recognition of traditional knowledge protected under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Legacy and Impact on Global Policy
The conference catalyzed the formal launch of the Sustainable Development Goals process, which culminated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the adoption of 17 SDGs by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. Institutional impacts included moves to strengthen United Nations Environment Programme and intensified engagement by financial actors such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on sustainability. The event influenced subsequent global forums like the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties, and regional summits including African Union Summit and ASEAN Summit. Civil society initiatives such as Global Campaign for Education and networks like ICLEI leveraged Rio+20 outcomes to advance local implementation and monitoring through city-level commitments exemplified by C40 Cities and municipal sustainability plans.