On April 18th, 2012, Sascha Muller-Kraenner, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in Europe and Vice-Chairman of the Ecologic Institute, presented at a Shanghai conference entitled “Green Development and Governance Innovation: Prospects on the Rio+20.” His presentation concerned the current framework for international sustainable development. Mr. Muller-Kraenner argues that the current institutional framework is inadequate [...]

On March 7th, with the support of the United Nations Global Compact, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Connie Hedegaard helped launch the Sustainia Initiative. The Sustainia Initiative celebrates the role of non-state actors in imagining and working to create a vision for a sustainable future. The Awards committee, made up of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Connie Hedegaard, Gro Harlem Brundtland, and [...]

Representing a breakthrough for ‘resilience’, a theory that gauges the ability of the Earth’s systems to adapt in withstanding pressures, turbulence and disaster in support of their long-term sustainability, the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability has released a report, Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing. The report puts forward a new blueprint for sustainable development [...]

The United Nations Environment Programme held the 12th Special Session of its Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF) from 20-22 February 2012. Approximately 900 delegates from 150 countries, including environment ministers, diplomats, representatives of international organizations, major groups and stakeholders, attended the conference in the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The Governing Council reviewed important and emerging policy issues [...]

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organized the 13th Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (GMGSF-13) at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya on 18-19 February 2012. The Global Forum is an annual event organized right before the UNEP Governing Council, to provide an opportunity for civil society and other groups to exchange ideas and get [...]

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organizes the 12th Special Session of its Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF) in Nairobi, Kenya from 20-22 February 2012. The ministerial consultations during the session will focus on emerging policy issues under the overall theme of “The environmental agenda in the changing world: from Stockholm 1972 to Rio 2012″. From 18-19 February, [...]