15 May 2012: The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has released key findings from a forthcoming report, titled “Roads From Rio+20: Pathways to Achieve Global Sustainability Goals by 2050,” analyzing the contribution of technology and changes in consumption patterns to accomplishing sustainable development objectives. The report proposes: a shared vision for 2050; strong short-term targets; and strong government policy action, building on business and civil society strengths.
The report, which was released ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), addresses: long-term goals for food and biodiversity, energy and climate; the historical and expected future trends related to sustainable development goals (SDGs); efforts needed to bend current trends in order to achieve SDGs; transforming global governance for sustainable development; and the ability of a pragmatic approach to meet SDGs.
The report emphasizes the objective of eradicating hunger and maintaining stable and sufficient food supplies while conserving biodiversity, and identifies four short-term policy priorities: accelerating sustainable agricultural intensification; ensuring a robust food system; mainstreaming biodiversity into land-use planning and management; and promoting changes in consumption patterns.
On climate change, the report highlights ensuring access to energy for all, while limiting climate change and air pollution, recommending short-term objectives including: increasing efforts on energy for all; peaking greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2020; adopting appropriate pricing instruments; and ensuring sufficient financing. It suggests a governance approach to shift towards sustainability by developing a consistent vision, adapting rules and regulations to contain incentive structures for transformative change, increasing decision-making process coherence, and reforming policy making at the international level. [Publication: Roads From Rio+20: Pathways to Achieve Global Sustainability Goals by 2050] [Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency Press Release]