15 March 2012: The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) has launched the IGES Rio+20 Issue Brief Series as a contribution to the negotiations on the outcome document from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

Issue Brief Volume 1, titled “What Are Sustainable Development Goals?” addresses issues surrounding the sustainable development goals (SDGs) proposal and presents IGES’ views on the issue. The brief suggests that policy makers need to define a clear mandate and process for developing a set of universal SDGs at Rio+20, and that doing this will reaffirm political commitment and foster further efforts towards achieving sustainable development.

Volume 2, titled “Building resilience and reducing risk from natural disasters: Essentials of 21st century sustainable development?” highlights the issues of building resilience and reducing risk from natural disasters by drawing on the knowledge gained from governments, researchers and other stakeholders. It suggests that developing resilience to disasters needs to be at the forefront of sustainable development, and that it is a subject that will take on increasing significance in the shadow of ongoing urbanization, unsustainable resource use and development patterns, and a changing climate.

IGES was established under an initiative of the Japanese Government in 1998. It is an international institute conducting research for realizing sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. [IGES’ Rio+20 webpage]