Stakeholders

The pathway to achieving sustainable development and a system of governance will take cooperation amongst a vast range of stakeholders. The broad scope of sustainable development – bringing together the economic, social and environmental – bridges the interests of various groups and stakeholders. What’s more, the transformation to living and consuming in a way that sustains our environment will benefit us all. Our environment is loudly calling for a paradigm shift – a movement away from our entrenched values of sovereignty towards an agreed global vision for ways of living.

Agenda 21, the outcome document from the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, recognised the importance of engaging a diversity of stakeholders in policy development and implementation. To this end, it defined nine stakeholder ‘Major Groups’:

  • Indigenous Peoples

    One of the fundamental prerequisites for the achievement of sustainable development is broad public participation in decision-making.
    Agenda 21, Chapter 23

  • Farmers

  • Workers & Trade Unions

  • Local Authorities

  • Business and Industry

  • Science and Technology Community

  • Women

  • Children & Youth

  • NGOs

Stakeholder Forum will work with representatives from all nine Major Groups globally in its work towards Earth Summit 2012. Information on each Major Group is available on this website – click on the above links or to the right to find out more information on each group.

The United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) will coordinate a formal process of engagement whereby each Major Group will be represented by an Organising Partner. Each Organising Partner will seek to engage representatives from their respective Major Group for dialogue sessions and policy inputs to form a paper for submission to the CSD.

Contact details for Organising Partners can be found here or on the individual Major Group pages. If you are a representative from one of the nine major groups and you are seeking to get involved in any workshops and events around Rio+20, we recommend that you contact a Major Group Organising Partner and join our list-serve for regular updates on other opportunities for engagement. You can also join the Earth Summit 2012 Facebook Group and follow developments on Twitter @ earthsummit2012

Stakeholder Forum will also be organising a series of events in the build up to Rio+20 and will ensure that Major Group representatives are included in all regional engagement processes. Similarly, Stakeholder Forum will work with the following groups, which it recognises as relevant for the Earth Summit:

  • Parliamentarians

  • Regional Government

  • Education Community

  • Faith Community

  • Foundations

If you have any questions about the process and channels of engagement we encourage you to consult our Frequently Asked Questions or contact your Organising Partner representative.

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