The Rio+20 conference has the potential to be a milestone almost as significant as the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, which brought sustainable development into the mainstream of development policy and launched the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention to Combat Desertification, as well as Agenda 21.

The Rio conference will focus on pivotal environmental, economic and social issues for the future. ODI work will respond to the key debates, including:

• the role of goals and policy initiatives in moving the agenda forward and the post-2015 (post-MDGs) framework, where Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) covering energy, food and water for all have been proposed
• how to deliver climate-compatible development, which is the focus of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network,  and inclusive and sustainable growth –the focus of the recent European Report on Development covering the management of the water, energy and land nexus

• ways to develop green and growing economies, as well as the economic instruments and private sector actions to support them.