22 June 2012: Four high-level roundtable sessions convened in parallel with the plenary meetings of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), from 20-22 June 2012, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Focused on the theme “Looking at the way forward in implementing the expected outcomes of the Conference,” the sessions were attended by Heads of State and Government, ministers, UN system officials, representatives of Major Groups and other international actors.

Round table 1, co-chaired by Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Emílio Guebuza, President of the Republic of Mozambique, noted that a plan to draft a set of strong, coherent sustainable development goals (SDGs), coupled with mechanisms to hold Member States accountable for implementing them, would ensure that Rio+20 left an indelible mark on the development landscape.

Round table 2, co-chaired by Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and María Ignacia Benítez, Minister for Environment, Chile, focused on bridging divergent interests and perspectives, and coalescing around a common framework for implementation.

Round table 3, co-chaired by President Dalia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania and President Laura Chinchilla Miranda of Costa Rica, stressed the importance of turning political commitments into action as soon as possible, with several participants calling for a stronger institutional framework, particularly after 2015, to implement and monitor implementation of agreed targets and decisions.

Round table 4, co-chaired by Prime Minister Winston Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai of Nepal, focused on the need for measures to tackle climate change and reverse environmental degradation to achieve sustainable development. [UN Press Release]