tells the stories, some for the first time, of eleven individuals who made heroic contributions to protecting our planet through groundbreaking international treaties investigates who was involved, how different personalities impacted the negotiations, what the state of play was and highlights the pivotal make or break moments the range of heroic individuals examined includes Luc Hoffmann, Mostafa Tolba, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Raul Oyuela Estrada, Barack Obama and Paula Caballero presents uplifting and gripping narrative an invaluable resource for students, scholars, activists and professionals who are seeking to understand how consensus is reached in these global meetings and how individuals can have a genuine impact on preserving our planet and reinforcing the positive message that global cooperation can actually work

As we witness a series of social, political, cultural, and economic changes/disruptions this book examines the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the way emerging technologies are impacting our lives and changing society. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterised by the emergence of new technologies that are blurring the boundaries between the physical, the digital, and the biological worlds. This book allows readers to explore how these technologies will impact peoples' lives by 2030. It helps readers to not only better understand the use and implications of emerging technologies, but also to imagine how their individual life will be shaped by them. The book provides an opportunity to see the great potential but also the threats and challenges presented by the emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, posing questions for the reader to think about what future they want. Emerging technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, cloud computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G), and fully autonomous vehicles, among others, will have a significant impact on every aspect of our lives, as such this book looks at their potential impact in the entire spectrum of daily life, including home life, travel, education and work, health, entertainment and social life. Providing an indication of what the world might look like in 2030, this book is essential reading for students, scholars, professionals, and policymakers interested in the nexus between emerging technologies and sustainable development, politics and society, and global governance.

tells the stories, some for the first time, of eleven individuals who made heroic contributions to protecting our planet through groundbreaking international treaties investigates who was involved, how different personalities impacted the negotiations, what the state of play was and highlights the pivotal make or break moments the range of heroic individuals examined includes Luc Hoffmann, Mostafa Tolba, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Raul Oyuela Estrada, Barack Obama and Paula Caballero presents uplifting and gripping narrative an invaluable resource for students, scholars, activists and professionals who are seeking to understand how consensus is reached in these global meetings and how individuals can have a genuine impact on preserving our planet and reinforcing the positive message that global cooperation can actually work

As we witness a series of social, political, cultural, and economic changes/disruptions this book examines the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the way emerging technologies are impacting our lives and changing society. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterised by the emergence of new technologies that are blurring the boundaries between the physical, the digital, and the biological worlds. This book allows readers to explore how these technologies will impact peoples' lives by 2030. It helps readers to not only better understand the use and implications of emerging technologies, but also to imagine how their individual life will be shaped by them. The book provides an opportunity to see the great potential but also the threats and challenges presented by the emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, posing questions for the reader to think about what future they want. Emerging technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, cloud computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G), and fully autonomous vehicles, among others, will have a significant impact on every aspect of our lives, as such this book looks at their potential impact in the entire spectrum of daily life, including home life, travel, education and work, health, entertainment and social life. Providing an indication of what the world might look like in 2030, this book is essential reading for students, scholars, professionals, and policymakers interested in the nexus between emerging technologies and sustainable development, politics and society, and global governance.

First published in 1997. 1997 marked the fifth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - the celebrated 'Earth Summit' in Rio de Janeiro which represented the high-water mark of intergovernmental action for sustainable development. Whilst some were tempted to dismiss the Conference as a gesture of concern by the participating governments, the list of resolutions which arose from the Summit is formidable, and the key text to emerge from the conference process, Agenda 21, had proven to be crucial to efforts to disseminate and implement the principles of globally sustainable development. The Way Forward outlines the successes and failures of those first five years. Calling on a list of eminent experts, it provides an unparalleled analysis of the agreements that were reached, and the stakeholders who were charged with implementing them. It reviews the progress that was made at the intergovernmental, national and grassroots levels, and offers a cogent summary of the major issues that needed to be addressed for the future. Lucid, compact and authoritative, this is the essential guide to 'Rio plus five'.

Forty years after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, the goal of sustainable development continues via the Rio+20 conference in 2012. This book will enable a broad readership to understand what has been achieved in the past forty years and what hasn't. It shows the continuing threat of our present way of living to the planet. It looks to the challenges that we face twenty years from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, "The Earth Summit," in Rio, in particular in the areas of economics and governance and the role of stakeholders. It puts forward a set of recommendations that the international community must address now and in the the future. It reminds us of the planetary boundaries we must all live within and and what needs to be addressed in the next twenty years for democracy, equity and fairness to survive. Finally it proposes through the survival agenda a bare minimum of what needs to be done, arguing for a series of absolute minimum policy changes we need to move forward.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of seventeen goals and 169 targets, with accompanying indicators, which were agreed by UN member states to frame their policy agendas for the fifteen-year period from 2015 to 2030. Written by three authors who have been engaged in the development of the SDGs from the beginning, this book offers an insider view of the process and a unique entry into what will be seen as one of the most significant negotiations and global policy agendas of the twenty-first century. The book reviews how the SDGs were developed, what happened in key meetings and how this transformational agenda, which took more than three years to negotiate, came together in September 2015. It dissects and analyzes the meetings, organizations and individuals that played key roles in their development. It provides fascinating insights into the subtleties and challenges of high-level negotiation processes of governments and stakeholders, and into how the SDGs were debated, formulated and agreed. It is essential reading for all interested in the UN, sustainable development and the future of the planet and humankind.

Global trends of population growth, rising living standards and the rapidly increasing urbanized world are increasing the demand on water, food and energy. Added to this is the growing threat of climate change which will have huge impacts on water and food availability. It is increasingly clear that there is no place in an interlinked world for isolated solutions aimed at just one sector. In recent years the "nexus" has emerged as a powerful concept to capture these inter-linkages of resources and is now a key feature of policy-making. This book is one of the first to provide a broad overview of both the science behind the nexus and the implications for policies and sustainable development. It brings together contributions by leading intergovernmental and governmental officials, industry, scientists and other stakeholder thinkers who are working to develop the approaches to the Nexus of water-food-energy and climate. It represents a major synthesis and state-of-the-art assessment of the Nexus by major players, in light of the adoption by the United Nations of the new Sustainable Development Goals and Targets in 2015. With a foreword by HRH the Prince of Wales

Climate change is now recognised as one of the greatest challenges facing the international community and when coupled with energy production and use - the most significant contributor to climate change - and the related security problems the double threat to international security and human development is of the highest order. This wide-ranging book brings together leading thinkers from academia, government and civil society to examine and address the global insecurity and development challenges arising from the twin thrust of climate change and the energy supply crunch. Part one considers energy. It analyses the challenges of meeting future energy demands and the ongoing and future security-related conflicts over energy. Coverage includes security and development concerns related to the oil and gas, nuclear, bio-fuels and hydropower sectors, ensuring energy access for all and addressing sustainable consumption and production in both developed and rapidly industrializing countries such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa. Part two analyses how climate change contributes to global insecurity and presents a consolidated overview of the potential threats and challenges it poses to international peace and development. Coverage includes future water scenarios including a focus on scarcity in the Middle East, food security, biodiversity loss, land degradation, the changing economics of climate change, adaptation and the special case of small island states. The final part lays out the potential avenues and mechanisms available to the international community to address and avert climate and energy instability via the multilateral framework under the United Nations. It also addresses mechanisms for resource and knowledge transfer from industrialized to developing countries to ensure a low-carbon energy transition by focusing on the rapid deployment of clean energy technologies and ways to tackle income and employment insecurity created by the transition away from traditional energy sources. This book offers the most comprehensive international assessment of the challenges and solutions for tackling the global insecurity arising from climate change and energy provision and use. It is essential reading for students, researchers and professionals across international relations, security, climate change and the energy sectors.

In the context of sustainable development, this book describes how we are moving from representative to participatory democracy, and how we are now in a "stakeholder democracy," which is working to strengthen represented democracy in a time of fear. Since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit the idea of stakeholder democracy has grown, with stakeholders engaged in helping governments and intergovernmental bodies make better decisions, and in helping them to deliver those decisions in partnerships amongst various stakeholders, with and without government. Seen through a multi-stakeholder, sector and level lens, this book describes the history of the development of stakeholder democracy, particularly in the area of sustainable development. The authors draw on more than twenty-five years of experience to review, learn from and make recommendations on how best to engage stakeholders in policy development. The book illustrates successful practical examples of multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) to implement agreements and outline elements of an MSP Charter. This will provide a benchmark for partnerships, enabling those being developed to understand what the necessary quality standards are and to understand what is expected in terms of transparency, accountability, financial reporting, impact and governance. The book is essential reading for professionals and trainees engaging in multi-stakeholder processes for policy development and to implement agreements. It will also be useful for students of sustainable development, politics and international relations.

Security has tended to be seen as based on military force, yet this illusion is crumbling, literally and figuratively, before our eyes in the conflict zones of Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. It is now clear that real human security, defined by the Commission on Human Security as 'protecting vital freedoms', can only be achieved if the full range of issues that underpin human security - including environmental integrity - are addressed. This ground-breaking book, authored by prominent international decision makers, tackles the global human security problem across the range of core issues including terrorism, nuclear proliferation, access to water, food security, loss of biodiversity and climate change. The authors identify the causes of insecurity, articulate the linkages between the different elements of human security and outline an agenda for engaging stakeholders from across the globe in building the foundations of genuine and lasting human security for all nations and all people. This is powerful, necessary, solution-focused reading in these times of peril, global conflict, mass inequity and rampant environmental degradation.

'As we start the preparations for the Earth Summit in 2002, 10 years from Rio and 30 years from Stockholm, we need to set targets and dates that are realistic to deliver the change that is needed. There will also need to be a debate on the international machinery to achieve what we want, and 2002 will be significant in setting out the direction. This book has drawn in some of the key people who are working to make 2002 a significant event' FROM THE FOREWORD BY KLAUS TOPFER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME AND CENTRE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS At the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, world leaders adopted a comprehensive programme of action for implementing sustainable development worldwide. As preparations for Earth Summit 2002 proceed, leading players from around the world present a frank assessment of progress to date. They set goals and describe mechanisms that will enable the international community to complete the tasks set in Rio and prepare for new challenges and opportunities. This book will be a catalyst for the public and political momentum required to push forward the global sustainable development agenda.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal set of seventeen goals and 169 targets, with accompanying indicators, which were agreed by UN member states to frame their policy agendas for the fifteen-year period from 2015 to 2030. Written by three authors who have been engaged in the development of the SDGs from the beginning, this book offers an insider view of the process and a unique entry into what will be seen as one of the most significant negotiations and global policy agendas of the twenty-first century. The book reviews how the SDGs were developed, what happened in key meetings and how this transformational agenda, which took more than three years to negotiate, came together in September 2015. It dissects and analyzes the meetings, organizations and individuals that played key roles in their development. It provides fascinating insights into the subtleties and challenges of high-level negotiation processes of governments and stakeholders, and into how the SDGs were debated, formulated and agreed. It is essential reading for all interested in the UN, sustainable development and the future of the planet and humankind.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Insecurity provides an authoritative and comprehensive assessment of the threats presented to human security and well-being by the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity recently confirmed as one of the critical 'planetary boundaries' that has already been exceeded. Contributors examine the current trends and state of biodiversity globally, the drivers of biodiversity loss including climate change and economic and population pressures, and the mechanisms and policies needed for conserving and restoring biodiversity in the future. Strong emphasis is placed throughout on the fundamental importance of placing a realistic economic value on nature and the services that ecosystems provide if we are to manage our natural resources successfully; and also on the crucial role of international institutions and government policies achieving this goal. As the recent high-profile meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, underlined, the scale and pace of the destruction of natural habitats and species imperil us all. This volume is an invaluable resource for conservationists, students and those in the private and public sectors concerned to redress the damage being done to the natural world.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Insecurity provides an authoritative and comprehensive assessment of the threats presented to human security and well-being by the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity recently confirmed as one of the critical 'planetary boundaries' that has already been exceeded. Contributors examine the current trends and state of biodiversity globally, the drivers of biodiversity loss including climate change and economic and population pressures, and the mechanisms and policies needed for conserving and restoring biodiversity in the future. Strong emphasis is placed throughout on the fundamental importance of placing a realistic economic value on nature and the services that ecosystems provide if we are to manage our natural resources successfully; and also on the crucial role of international institutions and government policies achieving this goal. As the recent high-profile meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, underlined, the scale and pace of the destruction of natural habitats and species imperil us all. This volume is an invaluable resource for conservationists, students and those in the private and public sectors concerned to redress the damage being done to the natural world.

Security has tended to be seen as based on military force, yet this illusion is crumbling, literally and figuratively, before our eyes in the conflict zones of Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. It is now clear that real human security, defined by the Commission on Human Security as 'protecting vital freedoms', can only be achieved if the full range of issues that underpin human security - including environmental integrity - are addressed. This ground-breaking book, authored by prominent international decision makers, tackles the global human security problem across the range of core issues including terrorism, nuclear proliferation, access to water, food security, loss of biodiversity and climate change. The authors identify the causes of insecurity, articulate the linkages between the different elements of human security and outline an agenda for engaging stakeholders from across the globe in building the foundations of genuine and lasting human security for all nations and all people. This is powerful, necessary, solution-focused reading in these times of peril, global conflict, mass inequity and rampant environmental degradation.

Global trends of population growth, rising living standards and the rapidly increasing urbanized world are increasing the demand on water, food and energy. Added to this is the growing threat of climate change which will have huge impacts on water and food availability. It is increasingly clear that there is no place in an interlinked world for isolated solutions aimed at just one sector. In recent years the "nexus" has emerged as a powerful concept to capture these inter-linkages of resources and is now a key feature of policy-making. This book is one of the first to provide a broad overview of both the science behind the nexus and the implications for policies and sustainable development. It brings together contributions by leading intergovernmental and governmental officials, industry, scientists and other stakeholder thinkers who are working to develop the approaches to the Nexus of water-food-energy and climate. It represents a major synthesis and state-of-the-art assessment of the Nexus by major players, in light of the adoption by the United Nations of the new Sustainable Development Goals and Targets in 2015. With a foreword by HRH the Prince of Wales

Twenty years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, "The Earth Summit", the Rio+20 conference in 2012 brought life back to sustainable development by putting it at the centre of a new global development partnership, one in which sustainable development is the basis for eradicating poverty, upholding human development and transforming economies. Written by practitioners and participants involved in the multilateral process of negotiations, this book presents a unique insider analysis of not only what happened and why, but also where the outcomes might impact in the future, particularly in the UN development agenda beyond 2015. The book throws light on the changing nature of multilateralism and questions frequent assumptions on how policy is defined within the UN. It shows that Rio+20 was more than an international meeting; it represented a culminating point of decades of successes and failures and a watershed moment for seminal concepts, ideas and partnerships including the Green Economy, zero tolerance on land degradation, the introduction of Sustainable Development Goals, the creation of national measurements of consumption, production and well-being that are intended to go beyond GDP, the introduction of national green accounting and the commitment of billions of dollars for sustainable development partnerships, including Sustainable Energy for All. The authors conclude by mapping out a new agenda for development in 2015, when the current Millennium Development Goals framework is due to expire. An agenda that will restore faith in the UN and inspire a global response to the demographic, economic and environmental challenges that will define our future in the decades to come.

Climate change is now recognised as one of the greatest challenges facing the international community and when coupled with energy production and use - the most significant contributor to climate change - and the related security problems the double threat to international security and human development is of the highest order.

This wide-ranging book brings together leading thinkers from academia, government and civil society to examine and address the global insecurity and development challenges arising from the twin thrust of climate change and the energy supply crunch.

Part one considers energy. It analyses the challenges of meeting future energy demands and the ongoing and future security-related conflicts over energy. Coverage includes security and development concerns related to the oil and gas, nuclear, bio-fuels and hydropower sectors, ensuring energy access for all and addressing sustainable consumption and production in both developed and rapidly industrializing countries such as India, China, Brazil and South Africa.

Part two analyses how climate change contributes to global insecurity and presents a consolidated overview of the potential threats and challenges it poses to international peace and development. Coverage includes future water scenarios including a focus on scarcity in the Middle East, food security, biodiversity loss, land degradation, the changing economics of climate change, adaptation and the special case of small island states.

The final part lays out the potential avenues and mechanisms available to the international community to address and avert climate and energy instability via the multilateral framework under the United Nations. It also addresses mechanisms for resource and knowledge transfer from industrialized to developing countries to ensure a low-carbon energy transition by focusing on the rapid deployment of clean energy technologies and ways to tackle income and employment insecurity created by the transition away from traditional energy sources.

This book offers the most comprehensive international assessment of the challenges and solutions for tackling the global insecurity arising from climate change and energy provision and use. It is essential reading for students, researchers and professionals across international relations, security, climate change and the energy sectors.

Twenty years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, "The Earth Summit", the Rio+20 conference in 2012 brought life back to sustainable development by putting it at the centre of a new global development partnership, one in which sustainable development is the basis for eradicating poverty, upholding human development and transforming economies. Written by practitioners and participants involved in the multilateral process of negotiations, this book presents a unique insider analysis of not only what happened and why, but also where the outcomes might impact in the future, particularly in the UN development agenda beyond 2015. The book throws light on the changing nature of multilateralism and questions frequent assumptions on how policy is defined within the UN. It shows that Rio+20 was more than an international meeting; it represented a culminating point of decades of successes and failures and a watershed moment for seminal concepts, ideas and partnerships including the Green Economy, zero tolerance on land degradation, the introduction of Sustainable Development Goals, the creation of national measurements of consumption, production and well-being that are intended to go beyond GDP, the introduction of national green accounting and the commitment of billions of dollars for sustainable development partnerships, including Sustainable Energy for All. The authors conclude by mapping out a new agenda for development in 2015, when the current Millennium Development Goals framework is due to expire. An agenda that will restore faith in the UN and inspire a global response to the demographic, economic and environmental challenges that will define our future in the decades to come.

First published in 1997. 1997 marked the fifth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - the celebrated 'Earth Summit' in Rio de Janeiro which represented the high-water mark of intergovernmental action for sustainable development. Whilst some were tempted to dismiss the Conference as a gesture of concern by the participating governments, the list of resolutions which arose from the Summit is formidable, and the key text to emerge from the conference process, Agenda 21, had proven to be crucial to efforts to disseminate and implement the principles of globally sustainable development. The Way Forward outlines the successes and failures of those first five years. Calling on a list of eminent experts, it provides an unparalleled analysis of the agreements that were reached, and the stakeholders who were charged with implementing them. It reviews the progress that was made at the intergovernmental, national and grassroots levels, and offers a cogent summary of the major issues that needed to be addressed for the future. Lucid, compact and authoritative, this is the essential guide to 'Rio plus five'.

In the context of sustainable development, this book describes how we are moving from representative to participatory democracy, and how we are now in a "stakeholder democracy," which is working to strengthen represented democracy in a time of fear. Since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit the idea of stakeholder democracy has grown, with stakeholders engaged in helping governments and intergovernmental bodies make better decisions, and in helping them to deliver those decisions in partnerships amongst various stakeholders, with and without government. Seen through a multi-stakeholder, sector and level lens, this book describes the history of the development of stakeholder democracy, particularly in the area of sustainable development. The authors draw on more than twenty-five years of experience to review, learn from and make recommendations on how best to engage stakeholders in policy development. The book illustrates successful practical examples of multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) to implement agreements and outline elements of an MSP Charter. This will provide a benchmark for partnerships, enabling those being developed to understand what the necessary quality standards are and to understand what is expected in terms of transparency, accountability, financial reporting, impact and governance. The book is essential reading for professionals and trainees engaging in multi-stakeholder processes for policy development and to implement agreements. It will also be useful for students of sustainable development, politics and international relations.

"A visionary and immensely practical approach to reforming today's bubble finance and taming its global casino. Verhagen ...] illuminates the win-win solutions possible when we combine monetary transformation with low-carbon, renewable resource strategies and equitable approaches to sustainable development." -Hazel Henderson, President of Ethical Markets Media, author and creator of The Green Transition Scoreboard As climate change continues to threaten the earth and as the global financial crisis lingers, governments and communities need to take charge of their own and global monetary systems. Sustainability sociologist Frans Verhagen proposes a solution-the Tierra Solution-to repair the present global monetary, financial, and economic systems that enrich the few, impoverish the many, and imperil the planet. Verhagen calls for transformational changes in order to advance climate-resilient economic development. The Tierra Solution proposes: -A credit-based financial system governed by a Global Central Bank, -A banking system without the privilege of money creation, and most importantly, -A carbon standard for the international monetary system with the Tierra as the unit of account. The Tierra Solution is an in-depth and thought-provoking read that shows an innovative path for global citizens who want to combat climate change, the economic crisis and poverty, and for public officials, economists, international development experts, and climate scientists who want to be part of an integrated solution to the dual challenges of climate change and financial crises. "Whether you agree or disagree, The Tierra Solution challenges us with an innovative proposal. No tinkering here. Verhagen is out to lay a new foundation for environmental and climate justice, with an overhaul of the international monetary system that builds the cost of environmental degradation into economic calculations." -Rev. Arthur Simon, President Emeritus and founder of Bread for the World "This plan for a carbon-based international monetary standard that addresses both climate change and global economic inequities is bold, visionary, and truly transformative. It is a must-read for everyone who cares about the fate of the earth." -Sheila D. Collins, Professor of Political Science Emerita, William Paterson University FRANS C. VERHAGEN is a sustainability sociologist with a Ph.D. in the sociology of international development from Columbia University. He founded the Queens Green Party, the Riverside Church Ecology Task Force, and the Ecolinguistics Commission. He has worked around the world and online teaching environmental policies and sustainability.

Provides an analytical framework for assessing the impact of NGOs on intergovernmental negotiations on the environment and identifying the factors that determine the degree of NGO influence, with case studies that apply the framework to negotiations on climate change, biosafety, desertification, whaling, and forests. Over the past thirty years nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have played an increasingly influential role in international negotiations, particularly on environmental issues. NGO diplomacy has become, in the words of one organizer, an "international experiment in democratizing intergovernmental decision making." But there has been little attempt to determine the conditions under which NGOs make a difference in either the process or the outcome of international negotiations. This book presents an analytic framework for the systematic and comparative study of NGO diplomacy in international environmental negotiations. Chapters by experts on international environmental policy apply this framework to assess the effect of NGO diplomacy on specific negotiations on environmental and sustainability issues. The proposed analytical framework offers researchers the tools with which to assess whether and how NGO diplomats affect negotiation processes, outcomes, or both, and through comparative analysis the book identifies factors that explain variation in NGO influence, including coordination of strategy, degree of access, institutional overlap, and alliances with key states. The empirical chapters use the framework to evaluate the degree of NGO influence on the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol negotiations on global climate change, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, negotiations within the International Whaling Commission that resulted in new management procedures and a ban on commercial whaling, and international negotiations on forests involving the United Nations, the International Tropical Timber Organization, and the World Trade Organization. Contributors Steinar Andresen, Michele M. Betsill, Stanley W. Burgiel, Elisabeth Corell, David Humphreys, Tora Skodvin