Abstract
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in June 2012 in Rio
de Janeiro, was probably the largest event in a long series of mega-summits on
environmental protection and sustainable development. Roughly 44000 participants
descended on Rio de Janeiro to take part in ten days of preparatory committee
meetings, informal consultations, side events, and the actual conference. Yet despite
this unprecedented high attendance by participants from governments and civil
society, the outcome of the conference is less than what many had hoped for. In this
paper, I review the outcomes of the 2012 Rio Conference in detail, with a special focus
on its contributions towards the reform of the institutional framework for sustainable
development. Following this review, I discuss the way ahead, including whether megaconferences
will continue to play a major role in the governance of our planet.
de Janeiro, was probably the largest event in a long series of mega-summits on
environmental protection and sustainable development. Roughly 44000 participants
descended on Rio de Janeiro to take part in ten days of preparatory committee
meetings, informal consultations, side events, and the actual conference. Yet despite
this unprecedented high attendance by participants from governments and civil
society, the outcome of the conference is less than what many had hoped for. In this
paper, I review the outcomes of the 2012 Rio Conference in detail, with a special focus
on its contributions towards the reform of the institutional framework for sustainable
development. Following this review, I discuss the way ahead, including whether megaconferences
will continue to play a major role in the governance of our planet.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Lund and Amsterdam |
| Publisher | Earth System Governance Project |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Publication series
| Name | Earth System Governance Working Paper Series |
|---|---|
| No. | 26 |