Governance Papers

Governance and sustainable development are intimately tied together. The future role and architecture of institutions, from local to international levels, will be crucial determinants of whether policies and programmes for sustainable development will succeed.  The following papers and resources outline a range of viewpoints: Current problems with institutional architecture; Options for alternative frameworks; Recommendations for future debate. etc.  Click on the links below to read more.

THE FUTURE OF THE HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM: FIT FOR PURPOSE?

Stakeholder Forum’s First sdg2030 Series report explores the future of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).  The Forum’s make-up and mission has been a matter of debate since it was created out of Rio+20, and before the negotiations for the Sustainable Development Goals. The resolution establishing the HLPF (UNGA resolution A/67/L.72, adopted on 9 July 2013) agreed to review it, and one such review was due 2020. This has now been moved to the autumn of 2021.

This report, a summary of the ideas presented during the 13 July 2020 ‘Pop-up Side Event’ at the 2020 HLPF: ‘Lessons from the Proposal for a Sustainable Development Council for the UN General Assembly (from Rio+20) for the Future of the High-level Political Forum,’ captures the inputs from the speakers and respondents from the ‘Pop-Up’ event, all of whom were active during Rio+20 and the creation of the HLPF.


THE BEGINNING OF A NEW FUTURE – THE WORLD OF HLPF AND THE 2030 GLOBAL AGENDA ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
This paper, written by Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, Senior Advisor on Governance for SF, explains the meaning of the different paragraphs found in UN General Assembly Resolution 67/290 which gave the mandate to the HLPF and looking at the wide range of obligations with which HLPF has to work.


GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 4: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
This is the fourth book that the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development has produced in an effort to share widely the papers that have been presented at the workshops for member States to discuss. The Group of Friends recognises that there is an inextricable link between good governance and sustainable development and that, as the 2030 Agenda is implemented, governance challenges will need discussion and action at all levels and by all institutions. Mindful of these challenges, the governments of Germany, Morocco, Nigeria, Romania and the Republic of Korea, with the technical support of the Tellus Institute and the secretariat being provided by ARTICLE 19, have tried to create an informal space for the Member States to discuss governance-related issues.

This book was written and co-edited by David Banisar, Jamie Bartram, Marianne Beisheim, Steven Bernstein, Claire Blanchard, Elizabeth Dirth, Felix Dodds, Michael K. Dorsey, Jorge Fernandez-Quintela, Elizabeth Hege, Meriem El Hilali, Anne Kahl, Hyemi Kim, Verena Klinge-Dering, Gary Lawrence, Samuel Victor Makwe, Quinn McKew, Felipe Morgado, Ingeborg Niestroy, Gastón Ocampo, Cristina Popescu, Felipe Victoria, and Ruben Zondervan.


GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 3: PREPARING FOR THE HEADS OF STATE REVIEW OF THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
This is the third book that the Group of Friends of the Governance for Sustainable Development, produced in an effort to share widely the papers that have been presented at the workshops for member States to discuss. The Group recognizes that there is an inextricable link between good governance and sustainable development and that, as the 2030 Agenda is implemented, governance challenges will need discussion and action at all levels and by all institutions.

This volume was written and co-edited by Abhinav Bahl, Aparajita Banerjee, David Banisar, Akinremi Bolaji, Marianne Beisheim, Geert Bouckaert, Yeongmoo Cho, Jack Cornforth, Felix Dodds, Jorge Fernandez, Patricia Galdamez, Alexandra Hiniker, David Horan, Verena Klinger-Dering, Quinn McKew, Enda Murphy, Charles Nouhan, David O’Connor, Derek Osborn, Minh-Thu Pham, Cristina Popescu, Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, Massimo Tommasoli, Lucy Turner, Farooq Ullah, Felipe Victoria, and Patrick Paul Walsh.


POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA: REALISING THE CONVERGENCE OF THE POST-MDG AND SDG DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES
Member States at the United Nations (UN) and stakeholders globally are currently mobilised around two important processes: post-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Post-2015 Development Agenda has become an umbrella term for both processes.  Both processes, post-MDG, and SDGs, have poverty eradication within the context of sustainable development as a primary objective, with the aim of using a global goal framework to achieve this. There is now broad agreement among many Member States that the two processes should be brought together to create one set of goals. This paper proposes that to build on the existing political energy and to avoid confusion and duplication of efforts, one process is needed going forward that will create a single post-2015 process and lead to a unified sustainable development framework for poverty eradication, characterised by one set of global goals. This needs to happen from September 2013.


BRIEFING NOTE: BUILDING THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE UN HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM (HLPF)
Strengthening the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) was one of the two themes of Rio+20. The process and negotiations showed agreement on the need to strengthen IFSD. While several institutional options were discussed during Rio+20, the outcome document strongly underlines the importance of good governance, and agreement was reached to establish a high-level political forum (HLPF) as the institution for sustainable development within the UN. The ultimate determination of the name, position within the UN hierarchy, mandate, and responsibilities of the forum will signal to the world the importance given to sustainable development in global politics.


UNEP GOVERNING COUNCIL: POST SCRIPTUM TO BUILDING A NEW GOVERNANCE MODEL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Hundreds of environment ministers, decision-makers, scientists, civil society representatives, and business leaders met from 18-22 February 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya for the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) first universal session of the Governing Council. The purpose of the Governing Council was to review important and emerging policy issues in the field of the environment and to start implementing the agreements reached at the Rio+20 Conference.  The Paper “Building a New Governance Model for Environmental Sustainability” outlines how the Rio+20 outcome document, UN General Assembly, and recent Governing Council has strengthened UNEP.

Jorge Laguna Celis prepared this paper in his personal capacity and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations. There is no remuneration or honorarium associated with the preparation or publishing of this paper.


POST-RIO TO POST-2015 THINK PIECES
In preparation for the event ‘Post-Rio to Post-2015: Planning Stakeholder Engagement,’ a series of commissioned think pieces were written to stimulate dialogue on the event’s themes.

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POST-RIO TO POST-2015 BACKGROUND PAPERS
Under each of the conference’s working groups, participants discussed the relevant paragraphs of “The Future We Want” and the following key issues: means of implementation, green economies for sustainable development, the institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD), the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production patterns (10YFP).

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SDG2012 THINK PIECES

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