The Stakeholder Forum has published seven think pieces, which address, inter alia: the possibility of establishing a UN high commissioner for future generations; how an ombudsman for future generations could further the UNCSD's goals; the proposal to establish a council on sustainable development; ensuring security of public goods that are key to sustainable development; obstacles to international environmental governance reform; and lessons from the trade regime.
October 2011: The Stakeholder Forum’s Sustainable Development Governance programme has published seven new think pieces focusing on the governance of sustainable development and institutions for promoting sustainable development.
The first piece, titled “A Preliminary Examination of the Possibilities for the Institutional Representation of the Interest of Future Generations and Environmental Protection within the System of the United Nations,” examines possible ways of establishing a new UN office for a high commissioner for future generations/environment. The second piece, titled “Ombudspersons for Future Generations as Sustainability Implementation Units,” focuses on how parliamentary commissioners or ombudspersons for future generations and/or the environment could further the goals of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), both in terms of renewed political commitment and in tackling implementation gaps with a new and inexpensive institution.
The third piece, titled “A Council for Sustainable Development: A possible outcome of the Rio+20 Process,” argues for the establishment of a permanent council on sustainable development.
The fourth piece, titled “Enabling a Flourishing Earth: Challenges for the Green Economy, Opportunities for Global Governance,” focuses on how to ensure that those classes of public goods that are central to sustainable development, but which cannot be satisfactorily addressed through market-based macroeconomic policy instruments, are more secure, abundant and widely shared.
The fifth piece, titled “Breaking the International Environmental Governance Deadlock: Lessons from Other Regimes,” examines the political challenges of the international environmental governance system and obstacles to meaningful reform.
The sixth think piece, titled “Lessons from GATT/WTO for enhancing UNEP,” analyses some implications of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) regime for environmental governance and an upgrade of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It aims to help Stakeholder Forum take a position on the validity of the GATT/WTO model as a reference for that upgrade, possibly in the form of a world environment organization.
The seventh piece, titled “Sustainable Development Governance and a Sustainable Development Board,” examines why, despite all the various gatherings, agreements and commitments on the environment and sustainable development, little progress has been achieved in improving the environment and in pursuing sustainable development. [Publication: New UN Office of the High Commissioner for Future Generations/Environment] [Publication: Ombudspersons for Future Generations] [Publication: Council for Sustainable Development] [Publication: Challenges for the Green Economy, Opportunities for Global Governance] [Publication: Breaking the International Environmental Governance Deadlock] [Publication: Lessons from GATT/WTO] [Publication: Sustainable Development Governance]