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.
AdamsB, 2008Green Development: Environment and Sustainability in a Developing World (Routledge, London)
2.
BarkemeyerRFiggeFHoltD, 2013, “Sustainability-related media coverage and socioeconomic development: A regional and North—South perspective”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy31716–740
3.
BeierleTKoniskyD, 2001, “What are we gaining from stakeholder involvement?”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy19515–529
4.
BetsillM MCorellE (Eds), 2008NGO Diplomacy: The Influence of Nongovernmental Organizations in International Environmental Negotiations (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
5.
BiermannF, 2013, “Curtain down and nothing settled: Global sustainability governance after the ‘Rio+20’ Earth Summit”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy311099–1114
6.
BinaO, 2013, “The green economy and sustainable development: An uneasy balance?”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy311023–1047
7.
BlowfieldMMurrayA, 2008Corporate Responsibility: A Critical Introduction (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
8.
BulkeleyH, 2005, “Reconfiguring environmental governance: Towards a politics of scales and networks”Political Geography24875–902
9.
BulkeleyHJordanA J, 2012, “Transnational environmental governance: New findings and emerging research agendas”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy30556–570
10.
ButchartS H M, 2010, “Global biodiversity: Indicators of recent declines”Science328(5982) 1164–1168
11.
CashoreBAuldGNewsomD, 2004Governing Through Markets: Forest Certification and the Emergence of Non-state Authority (Yale University Press, New Haven, CT)
12.
CherpAGeorgeCKirkpatrickC, 2004, “A methodology for assessing national sustainable development strategies”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy22913–926
13.
CompstonH WBaileyI (Eds), 2008Turning Down the Heat: The Politics of Climate Policy in Affluent Democracies (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hants)
14.
CookI RSwyngedouwE, 2012, “Cities, social cohesion and the environment: Towards a future research agenda”Urban Studies491959–1979
15.
CooperN, 2011, “Humanitarian arms control and processes of securitization: Moving weapons along the security continuum”Contemporary Security Policy32134–158
16.
Council of the European Union, 20092009 Review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy—Presidency Report 1 December (EU Council, Brussels)
17.
DeathC, 2011, “Summit theatre: Exemplary governmentality and environmental diplomacy in Johannesburg and Copenhagen”Environmental Politics201–19
18.
ElyASmithALeachMStirlingAScoonesI, 2013, “Innovation politics post-Rio+20: Hybrid pathways to sustainability?”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy311063–1081
19.
ENDS, 2012, “Rio+20 results in few commitments”Environmental Data Services Ltd Report45041–43
20.
ENDS, 2013, “Where next for global sustainability”Environmental Data Services Ltd Report46044–48
21.
European Environment Agency, 2010The European Environment: State and Outlook 2010Copenhagen
22.
FrameB, 2008, “‘Wicked’, ‘messy’, and ‘clumsy’: Long-term frameworks for sustainability”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy261113–1128
23.
FrynasJ G, 2008, “Corporate social responsibility and international development: Critical assessment”Corporate Governance: An International Review16274–281
24.
GibbsDKruegerRMacLeodG, 2013, “Grappling with smart city politics in an era of market triumphalism”Urban Studies502151–2157
25.
HobsonK, 2013, “‘Weak’ or ‘strong’ sustainable consumption? Efficiency, degrowth, and the 10 year framework programme”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy311082–1098
26.
HodsonMMarvinS, 2009, “Urban ecological security: A new urban paradigm?”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research33193–215
27.
HoffmannM J, 2011Climate Governance at the Crossroads: Experimenting with a Global Response after Kyoto (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
28.
HolmanN, 2009, “Incorporating local sustainability indicators into structures of local governance: A review of the literature”Local Environment14365–375
29.
HultmanNSierraKEisJShapiroA, 2012Green Growth Innovation: New Pathways for International Cooperation (Brookings Institution, Washington, DC)
30.
JordanA J, 2008, “The governance of sustainable development: Taking stock and looking forwards”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy2617–33
31.
JordanA JAdelleC (Eds), 2012Environmental Policy in the European Union: Contexts, Actors and Policy Dynamics3rd edition (Routledge, London)
32.
JordanA JLenschowA, 2010, “Environmental policy integration: A state of the art review”Environmental Policy and Governance20147–158
33.
KiddSFischerT B, 2007, “Towards sustainability: Is integrated appraisal a step in the right direction?”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy25233–249
34.
KloosterD, 2010, “Standardizing sustainable development? The Forest Stewardship Council's plantation policy review process as neoliberal environmental governance”Geoforum41117–129
35.
LawhonM, 2013, “Dumping ground or country-in-transition? Discourses of e-waste in South Africa”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy31700–715
36.
LawhonMPatelZ, 2013, “Scalar politics and local sustainability: Rethinking governance and justice in an era of political and environmental change”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy311048–1062
37.
LinnérB-OSelinH, 2013, “The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: Forty years in the making”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy31971–987
38.
MeadowcroftJ, 2013, “Reaching the limits? Developed country engagement with sustainable development in a challenging conjuncture”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy31988–1002
39.
MiddlemissLParrishB, 2010, “Building capacity for low-carbon communities: The role of grassroots initiatives”Energy Policy387559–7566
40.
MuellerM L, 2010Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance (MIT Press, (Cambridge, MA)
41.
NajamASelinH, 2011, “Institutions for a green economy”Review of Policy Research28451–457
42.
NewellPPatersonM, 2010Climate Capitalism: Global Warming and the Transformation of the Global Economy (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
43.
OECD, 2013Putting Green Growth at the Heart of Development (OECD, Paris)
44.
PattbergPMertA, 2013, “The future we get might not be the future we want: Analysing the Rio+20 outcomes”Global Policy4305–310
45.
PerkinsR, 2013, “Sustainable development and the making and unmaking of a developing world”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy311003–1022
46.
PetersG PHertwichE G, 2008, “CO2 embodied in international trade with implications for global climate policy”Environmental Science and Technology421401–1407
47.
RajaminiL, 2006Differential Treatment in International Environmental Law (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
48.
RisseTRoppS CSikkinkK, 1999The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
49.
Russe-KhanH G, 2010, “A real partnership for development? Sustainable development as treaty objective in European Economic Partnership Agreements and beyond”Journal of International Environmental Law13139–180
50.
RusselDTurnpennyJ, 2009, “The politics of sustainable development in UK government: What role for integrated policy appraisal?”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy27340–354
51.
Scott-CatoMHillierJ, 2010, “How could we study climate-related social innovation? Applying Deleuzean philosophy to Transition Towns”Environmental Politics19869–887
52.
SeyfangGHaxeltineA, 2012, “Growing grassroots innovations: Exploring the role of community-based initiatives in governing sustainable energy transitions”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy30381–400
53.
SmithRWiekA, 2012, “Achievements and opportunities in initiating governance for urban sustainability”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy30429–447
54.
SoederbergS, 2007, “Taming corporations or buttressing market-led development? A critical assessment of the Global Compact”Globalizations4500–513
55.
SteurerRMartinuzziA, 2005, “Towards a new pattern of strategy formation in the public sector: First experiences with national strategies for sustainable development in Europe”Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy23455–472
56.
StumppE, 2013, “New in town? On resilience and ‘resilient cities’”Cities32162–166
57.
TurnerB LII, 2010, “Vulnerability and resilience: Coalescing or paralleling approaches for sustainability science?”Global Environmental Change20570–576
58.
UNDP, 2013Human Development Report 2013: The Rise of the South—Human Progress in a Diverse WorldUnited Nations Development Programme, New York
59.
UNEP, 2012Global Environment Outlook 5: Environment for the Future We WantUnited Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi
United Nations, 2013Global Sustainable Development Report—Executive Summary: Building the Common Future We WantDivision for Sustainable Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New York
62.
Van AlstineJAfionisSDoranP, 2013, “The UN Conference on Sustainable Development”Environmental Politics22333–338
63.
WhiteheadM, 2006Spaces of Sustainability: Geographical Perspectives on the Sustainable Society (Routledge, London)
64.
WCED, 1987Our Common FutureWorld Commission on Environment and Development (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
