ABSTRACT
This chapter takes the reader through the different stages of the negotiating process and through the decisions that were required, from all actors involved, in order to allow the world leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro to adopt the official outcome of the conference, the political document entitled 'The Future We Want', and to launch a significant number of important initiatives on sustainable development. The chapter highlights the fact that the success of Rio+20. Most negotiators had accepted the idea that some of the key decisions and compromises that were vital for allowing Rio+20 to have a tangible outcome would require a higher level of political, perhaps ministerial, engagement in the process. This was particularly true for core issues such as the future of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the replacement of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and the modalities for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
