Since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, efforts to both curb the accelerating rate of environmental change and to promote sustainable development have led to the gradual proliferation of global, regional and local institutions. In 1992, when the first Earth Summit was held to discuss the global environment, there were more than 900 international legal instruments directly or indirectly addressing the issue of environmental protection. The 1996 Summit of the Americas in Santa Cruz Bolivia and its respective Declaration was also about sustainable development. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – or Rio+20 – took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 20-22 June 2012, which among others produced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the outcome document called to integrating social, environmental and economic resilience strategies into policies. Resilience became a buzz word associated with vulnerability and risks. Forty-six (46), 26, 22 and 6 years later respectively after these major events, how are sustainable development policies addressing resilience challenges and opportunities, and where does democratic governance fit in the equation?
Read More “The Local Democratic Governance Dimension in Resilience”