A Tale of Two UN Processes:: The Global Sustainability Panel and Rio+20

This article examines two sustainable development-related processes that unfolded in parallel at the United Nations during the period 2010-2012. The first one, the Global Sustainability Panel, was established by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and produced a report entitled “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing” at the end of January 2012. The second one, the preparatory process for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, was an intergovernmental negotiation that culminated in the adoption of an Outcome Document entitled “The Future We Want” in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro. Both processes and their outcomes dealt with a broad range of sustainable development issues. They both started with an understanding that implementation of sustainable development is lagging significantly behind in practice, especially in viewof major global challenges facing the world today, like climate change and food insecurity. And both attempted with their recommendations, which include the introduction of new sustainable development goals (SDGs), to shape a more effective sustainable development framework for the post-2015 period, that is after the year set for the completion of the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The article presents the two processes and their outcomes, analyzes the context in which they evolved, points to their commonalities and differences, and ponders on how their best elements can be combined towards the desired post-2015 sustainable development framework, on the basis of actions by all relevant stakeholders.