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Governing Sustainability: Rio+20 and the Road beyond

Author

Listed:
  • Harriet Bulkeley

    (Department of Geography, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, England)

  • Andrew Jordan

    (School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, England)

  • Richard Perkins

    (Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, England)

  • Henrik Selin

    (Department of International Relations, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

Abstract

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, more widely known as ‘Rio+20’, was a significant global political event, but it left many important questions relating to the future of sustainability governance unanswered. This paper introduces a theme issue on “Governing sustainability: Rio+20 and the road beyond†. It is organized around three themes which are addressed at greater detail in the different papers: (i) the current status of governance for sustainability in the aftermath of Rio+20; (ii) whether or not sustainable development still has political and institutional relevance; and (iii) institutional and political opportunities and obstacles for governing sustainability in the future. The paper argues that both sustainability governance and the sustainable development concept are under growing pressure amid a perceived failure to deliver change, but identifies three opportunities to advance sustainability: (i) by reframing the way in which problems of unsustainability are described and approached; (ii) via the formulation of effective sustainable development goals; and (iii) by identifying novel ways to open up the sustainable development debate to more actors and interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Harriet Bulkeley & Andrew Jordan & Richard Perkins & Henrik Selin, 2013. "Governing Sustainability: Rio+20 and the Road beyond," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(6), pages 958-970, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:31:y:2013:i:6:p:958-970
    DOI: 10.1068/c3106ed
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gibbs, David & O'Neill, Kirstie, 2017. "Future green economies and regional development: a research agenda," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68392, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Andreas Endl, 2017. "Addressing “Wicked Problems” through Governance for Sustainable Development—A Comparative Analysis of National Mineral Policy Approaches in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-22, October.

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