The Unfinished Story of the Rio Plus 20 Conference

Abstract:     
Reporting on the 2012 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (or Rio Plus 20 conference) has generally followed two lines: the conference was essentially a failure because of its tepid official response to the enormous and related problems of global environmental degradation and global poverty; and the conference successfully managed to mobilize hundreds of voluntary commitments and at least $513 billion for specific sustainability goals. A third story line has received little attention, however, and may redeem the account of official failure. This article addresses that story line, reviewing a series of processes set in motion by the parties to the conference that in the next few years could substantially affect how sustainability is addressed globally.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: sustainable development, sustainability, national governance, Acting as if Tomorrow Matters, Rio 20, Cloud of Commitments, Sustainable Energy for All, sustainability indicators, United Nations, U.N. General Assembly, U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), Commission on Sustainable Development

JEL Classification: O10, O20, Q01, Q10, Q20, Q28, Q30, Q38, Q48, Q56, Q58, K10, K32, K33

Accepted Paper Series