Sustainable Development After Rio+20: Postmortem or Rebirth?

Abstract

In stark contrast to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (best known for promoting sustainable development as a global policy concept and producing an ambitious roadmap for sustainable development, the famous Agenda 21), the 2012 Rio+20 Summit is widely regarded as a failure. While expectations of civil society, scientists and parts of the business community have been high, the outcomes of Rio+20 are sobering. High hopes had been placed on the two main topics of the summit, the institutional reform agenda and the green economy, with little tangible effects. Instead of delivering a “transformational vision” or a “constitutional moment”, the conference has resulted in a final document that restates old commitments without delivering convincing answers to new challenges. The ongoing economic crisis has deepened the perennial lack of financial resources, while the proposed green economy is less concerned with sustainability than with fostering the emergence of new products and markets, and all this at a time when the emerging powers in the South made clear that they had no intent to restrain their fast growing economies to accommodate environmental concerns. End of story? This panel will assess the prospects of global environmental governance and the major trends in economics and politics that may affect it in the years to come. Papers may address the following questions: What are the future prospects of multi-lateral environmental conferences? What alternative models of deliberation and decision-making exist? Could bottom-up, public-private and business-driven initiatives compensate for the lack of international leadership? What is the role of emerging economies in global environmental governance? Is the concept of sustainable development outdated? If so, what will be the new paradigm?

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