With more than 10,000 accredited and participating stakeholders, and over 82 million more connected virtually, Rio+20 was seen as a UN summit with one of the largest contingencies of non-state actors present. In principle, and also to a large extent in practice, the Rio+20 has been the most open and interactive in history.

This report explores the nature and impact of the Major Groups and other stakeholders in the Rio+20 process, including their influence on the outcome document. The report also looks at the role of social media in raising awareness of the conference and provides a summary of Stakeholder Forum's capacity building and engagement activities in the lead-up to and at Rio+20.

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ABOUT THIS GUIDE

This guide was jointly initiated by Stakeholder Forum and the Commonwealth Secretariat in response to the perceived ‘knowledge gap’ on the history and dynamics of global governance for sustainable development. A first edition was published in 2011 and this second edition was updated in February 2012.

Broadly speaking, there are basically two options available to meet the challenges of strengthening the institutional framework on sustainable development at UN level. These are the reform of ECOSOC or the establishment of a Sustainable Development Council. However putting these two options aside for now, the mechanism established will have to incorporate and be based on the same functions operating with the same mechanisms. Therefore, focusing on functions first will aid in determining what form of body is most effective. Given the history of sustainable development in the UN, and the global issues we face, effectiveness is now more important than ever.

This paper can be read in English, Spanish and French.

Recent grassroots events such as the Arab Spring, Los Indignados and the Occupy Movements have given expression to the feelings of frustration and even anger with the status quo. More significantly, these events demonstrate the power of people when unified and mobilised, as well as the growing importance of information technology and social media in enabling this mobilisation.

Stakeholder Forum with the support of Christian Aid, WWF, IIED, Practical Action, Progressio, CAFOD and Friends of the Earth have produced the following paper on Sustainable Development Goals. A potential outcome of Rio+20 is the launch of Sustainable Development Goals, which would guide the international sustainable development agenda, and serve as a vital contribution to the successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals after they expire in 2015. The information of this report is based on a review of relevant literature - especially regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the MDGs framework and the implementation of the UN-led post-MDG process; interviews with representatives of organisations whose Zero Draft submissions made explicit recommendations on or for SDGs and/or involved in the current SDGs process; a global survey responded by 410 individuals representing a diversity of organizations (mainly NGOs) based in different regions, and a stakeholder workshop in London.

This document contains explanations of the most commonly reference terms/concepts of the zero-draft compilation document.

To download the document click here.

Stakeholder Forum with its partners have put together some suggestions, which we would like governments to consider as they take part in this session of Rio+20 and in preparation for their inputs to the 17th of February deadline.

Stakeholder Forum has undertaken an analysis of the submissions to the UN.  This analysis identifies the insights to be found in the Zero Draft submission documents by creating a database of 97 key terms relevant to Rio+20 and determine which organisations have expressed interest in these terms.

Stakeholder Forum's Sustainable Develoment Governance programme (SDG2012) has published seven new think pieces from prominent authors in the field.

Stakeholder Forum has produced an analysis of existing targets from global processes on sustainable development, in an effort to highlight the range of commitments that governments are obliged to achieve, and thereby enhance accountability for implementation. The document is also a useful resource for civil society advocates.

Stakeholder Forum in collaboration with Bioregional and the Earth Charter Initiative have produced a paper which consolidates a range of principles for the green economy, building on existing agreements and also emerging recommendations. The paper hopes to contribute to the emerging debate on defining principles for the green economy to ensure that it serves in the interest of sustainable development.

Three new 'think pieces' on Sustainable Development Governance have been written as part of Stakeholder Forum's sdg2012 programme.