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Curated by Project Syndicate

The Road to Rio+20

14 commentaries

This week, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development brings together world leaders and representatives of business and civil society, to galvanize support for a global sustainable development agenda. But, as developed countries struggle to recover from the global recession, and emerging-market growth slows, will the international community commit to real action? Project Syndicate's contributors examine the conference's prospects and outcomes.

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  1. Rio’s Unsustainable Nonsense
    c661f80246f86f181493fc5d_m3601.jpg

    Rio’s Unsustainable Nonsense

    Jun 21, 2012 Jagdish Bhagwati

  2. Globalizing Innovation
    122e100246f86ff009f1358b_pa3894c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Globalizing Innovation

    Jun 19, 2012 Mark Stafford Smith

  3. A Rio Report Card
    1d8a0a0346f86f6810357dd3_dr4488c.jpg Dean Rohrer

    A Rio Report Card

    Jun 18, 2012 Jeffrey D. Sachs

  4. Putting Water in Rio
    pa3076c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Putting Water in Rio

    Jun 17, 2012 Famke Janssen

  5. Wrongheaded in Rio
    jk771.jpg Jon Krause

    Wrongheaded in Rio

    Jun 13, 2012 Bjørn Lomborg

  6. Green from the Grassroots
    ostrom1_Romolo Tavani_Getty images_climate Romolo Tavani/Getty Images

    Green from the Grassroots

    Jun 12, 2012 Elinor Ostrom thinks climate change is best addressed through local and regional policies.

  1. galbraith39_rudall30Getty Images_businessmanforest rudall30/Getty Images

    Economists’ Way Out of the Wilderness

    James K. Galbraith argues that the continued dominance of nineteenth-century thinking has resulted in a catalogue of failure.
  2. benami221_Justin SullivanGetty Images_trump Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    Trump the Revolutionary Isolationist

    Shlomo Ben-Ami

    America's president subscribes to a brand of isolationism that has waxed and waned throughout US history, but has its roots in the two-century-old Monroe Doctrine. This is bad news for nearly everyone, because it implies acceptance of a world order based on spheres of influence, as envisioned by China and Russia.

    hears echoes of the Monroe Doctrine in the US president's threats to acquire Greenland.
  3. hubbard4_Chen MengtongChina News ServiceVCG via Getty Images_scottbessent Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

    How the Trump Administration Can Hit Its Growth Target

    Glenn Hubbard urges policymakers to focus on the three pillars of increased productivity.
  4. oneill129_Saul LoebGettyImages_us_treasury Saul Loeb/Getty Images

    Trump’s First Test Will Be the Bond Market

    Jim O'Neill

    Financial markets and official economic indicators over the past few weeks give policymakers around the world plenty to contemplate. Was the recent spike in bond yields a sufficient warning to Donald Trump and his team, or will they still follow through with inflationary stimulus, tariff, and immigration policies?

    wonders if recent market signals will keep the new administration’s radicalism in check.
  5. ahzhang19_Jaap ArriensNurPhoto via Getty Images_tiktok Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    The TikTok Boomerang

    Angela Huyue Zhang thinks the US government's ban on the app has left it in an untenable position.
  6. delaney1_Jose JimenezGettyImages_bahamas_dorian Jose Jimenez/Getty Images

    Turning the Financial Tide for Small Island States

    Maya Delaney & Aminath Shauna tout the potential of green and blue bonds to protect critical ecosystems and build economic resilience.
  7. brown116_Timur MatahariGettyImages_indonesia_free_school_meals Timur Matahari/Getty Images

    School Meals Provide Food for Thought – and Fuel for Development

    Gordon Brown & Kevin Watkins tout universal nutrition programs in lower-income countries to mitigate a lost decade for poor children.
  8. karl3_Apu GomesGetty Images_LAfires Apu Gomes/Getty Images

    A House Gutted by Fire

    Terry Lynn Karl blames the inferno now consuming Los Angeles County squarely on greenhouse-gas emissions.
  9. op_janeway17_Natalya KosarevichGetty Images_moneyhandslightbulb Natalya Kosarevich/Getty Images

    False Economies

    William H. Janeway highlights the high cost of the single-minded focus on efficiency that has come to dominate the discipline.

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