The Sustainability Learning Forum

Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum

United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accepted the full set of outcomes from the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, including a listing of more than 200 business commitments. The Forum brought together 2,700 business leaders, investors, academics, government officials, environmentalists, and grassroots activists. more[...] login_required

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Achim Steiner

Achim Steiner, UNEP

Rio+20 – as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development has come to be known – provides an unprecedented opportunity for the world to transform the current economic paradigm into one that enhances human well-being while respecting planetary boundaries and environmental limits. This will require changes in the way we perceive progress, make financial decisions, and do business in order to ensure that social and environmental considerations are fully integrated into decision-making. As the driving forces of economic growth, business and industry will have a leading role to play. more[...] login_required

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Georg Kell

Georg Kell, United Nations Global Compact

Never before in recent history has there been such widespread uncertainty about the future. Major developments are shaping our world, raising important questions about the proper role of business and the legitimacy of markets. more[...] login_required

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Andrei Galaev

Andrei Galaev, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd.

Decisions made at global conferences have great effects on CSR and sustainable development progress and concept advancement. I believe that the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will be the next milestone in international efforts to accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable development globally. It is an opportunity for participants to honestly and openly discuss what has been achieved in the last 20 years since Agenda 21 at the Earth Summit in Rio; what the biggest challenges and issues have been; and whether governments, business, the UN system, and other parties have managed to address them effectively. more[...] login_required

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Douglas Tompkins

The Rio+20 conference in June 2012 has been generating concern and a lack of confidence on the part of many environmentalists and conservationists I know and work with. Although the first Rio conference ignited hopes for millions and was in fact an historical launching point for united government action on environmental issues, it still fell far short of expectations. Those with optimistic visions – and what I consider to be often Pollyanna characterizations of these unwieldy and multination world conferences – perhaps can see it in a positive light. One hears all the excuses that this or that was better than nothing, or that “perfection is the enemy of the good” and similar aphorisms. more[...] login_required

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A Future We Want? Lessons of Rio+20

Dr. Elmer Lenzen

It was the absence of disputes that probably provoked the biggest dispute: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 summit) ended with a concordant final resolution of 190 participating countries. The outcome document, titled “The Future We Want,” had already been published and enacted by the beginning of the conference, which led to controversies and the disappointment of many – mainly nongovernmental – participants. However, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the summit a success: “Rio+20 has given us a solid platform to build on. And it has given us the tools to build with. The work starts now.” more[...] login_required

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The Rio+20 Topics

Judith Bomholt

Twenty years after the first international Conference on Environment and Development was held there, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) has again taken place in Rio de Janeiro. Over 50,000 participants took part what is known as the Rio +20 Conference, including more than 100 world leaders and heads of government. This new conference should ensure continued political commitment to sustainable development, help to take stock of previous advances, and reveal the gaps in sustainability involvement. more[...] login_required

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The History of Sustainable Development in the United Nations

In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm brought the industrialized and developing nations together to delineate the ‘rights’ of the human family to a healthy and productive environment. The recognition to revitalize humanity’s connection with Nature, led to the creation of global institutions within the UN system. more[...] login_required

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Results and Observations from the Official and Civil Society Preparatory Processes

Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum

Stakeholders have been working on Rio+20 since the Group of 77 developing countries tabled the original resolution for the summit on November 4, 2008. To help in that process, the Stakeholder Forum launched the www.earthsummit2012.org website on January 1, 2009. more[...] login_required

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Managing Biofuels Portfolio Risk – The Role of Financial and Risk Analysis

Deloitte

This white paper explores managing biofuels portfolio risk – the stakeholder’s targeted value approach and the financial and risk analysis roles. The Department of Navy (DON), Department of Energy, and United States Department of Agriculture are together pursuing an ambitious program to support military requirements for viable and cost effective biofuels and to accelerate the growth of a national biofuels industry to address strategic energy security concerns. Source: All information taken from the website. more[...] login_required

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Building an Inclusive Green Economy for All

Poverty-Environment Partnership (PEP)

This joint Poverty-Environment Partnership paper aims to stimulate a dialogue among developing country policymakers, development partners and other stakeholders on how best to support country-led efforts to build inclusive green economies. more[...] login_required

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Rio+20: Forests form important foundation for a green economy

Duncan Macqueen, International Institute for Environment and Development

Forests constitute the vast majority of what is green on planet earth. The quest for a green economy at Rio+20 excited the full spectrum of the forest community – from forest industries to local forest rights-holder groups. Both groups have something to offer – although it may be necessary to invest more in locally-controlled forestry if a fair green economy is to be achieved. more[...] login_required

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Rio+20 Summit

At the Rio+20 Conference, 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. more[...]

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Wind Power: Real Energy, Real Jobs

Philip Warburg

Wind power could supply 20% of U.S. electricity and generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs per year – unless Congress kills the wind tax credit. Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has been outspoken in deriding President Obama’s efforts to give wind and solar power the prominence they deserve on America’s energy agenda. “In place of real energy, Obama has focused on an imaginary world where government-subsidized windmills and solar panels could power the economy,” he wrote in a March editorial in Columbus Dispatch. more[...]

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Five things we’ve learnt from Rio+20

Tom Bigg, International Institute for Environment and Development

While the outcomes from Rio +20 may not currently give grounds for much optimism, its value is likely to be in longer-term changes in attitudes and understanding. more[...]

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