5 September 2012: The Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD) has published a paper that calls for giving priority to addressing climate change and to assisting poor and vulnerable countries, under the proposed new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other institutional changes, following the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

The paper, titled “International Institutions and New Sustainable Development Goals Beyond 2015: Climate Change, Poor and Vulnerable Countries,” highlights some of the proposed institutional changes considered or agreed at Rio+20, such as the establishment of a high-level political forum to replace the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), and provides an overview of the proposed new SDGs, which are expected to build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It then considers human security as a potential conceptual framework for these proposed institutional changes and new goals, asserting that a human security-based approach could help give priority to the needs of poor and vulnerable countries.

The paper also examines the implications of climate change and poor and vulnerable countries for these proposed institutional changes and SDGs. It concludes that just as the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol give special attention to poor and vulnerable countries, so must these proposed changes and SDGs. [Publication: International Institutions and New Sustainable Development Goals Beyond 2015: Climate Change, Poor and Vulnerable Countries]