September 2012: The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) launched a new sustainable development knowledge platform. The website includes resources describing inter-governmental processes, the UN system and major groups as well as resources on sustainable development in action and links to nearly 6,000 related documents.
The website includes multiple resources related to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). The “Rio+20 Follow-up” section describes the Rio+20 outcome document, “The Future We Want,” and outline current processes to develop sustainable development goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in coordination with the post-2015 development agenda process.
Noting that Rio+20 was an action-oriented conference, the sustainable development in action page highlights commitments and partnerships for sustainable development as well as green economy policies and initiatives. The page lists the 710 voluntary commitments made by businesses, civil society, governments and other stakeholders at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). It includes links to recently registered commitments, commitment statistics among different actors, committed financial support for various initiatives, commitment delivery date timeframes, and commitment details. Visitors can register new commitments or search for commitments under different topics, such as climate change or energy, or by locations, including Africa and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
The Topics section includes links to thematic areas and cross-sectoral issues highlighted in the Rio+20 outcome document. It also contains links to additional topics related to Agenda 21 and the Commission for Sustainable Development.
The Resources page features selected publications and provides links to nearly 6,000 reports, background papers, issue briefs, special series and other documents on sustainable development. Users can search for documents in a documents library or browse from a list of major agreements and conventions related to sustainable development.
This new sustainable development website replaces a previous website hosted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Division for Sustainable Development. [New Sustainable Development Website]