From Rio to Rio + 20: the changing role of local governments in the context of current global governance

The upcoming Rio + 20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development has instigated a reflective assessment of the last 20 years and the transformation, if any, of our societies and our economies in the context of a changing planet and increasing environmental concerns. A major component of this assessment relates to global environmental governance, and the suitability of the current governance structures to deal with our environmental challenges. This contribution looks specifically at the role of local governments, the most proximate level of governance to citizens, in the overall context of the current global environmental governance structure. In doing so it will argue, that cities, and their local governments, need to be given full recognition in terms of the role they have in achieving global sustainability, as well as meeting the challenges of climate change and addressing general environmental pressures. The intense concentration of human activity in cities has been the source of many of our environmental problems, yet this same concentration also offers many of the solutions. The contribution will also look at the role of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and how the organization has evolved since its inception over 20 years ago. Finally, it will ask “what is the future we want”, and whether current decision-makers fully comprehend the extent to which global environmental governance structures need to be reformed in order to achieve a future desirable for subsequent generations.