Next steps to the future we want

The new goals will guide all economies - developed and developing alike - to more sustainable development paths. That is why Rio+20 agreed that the goals should be universal and applicable to all countries. Sustainable development is not only about promoting economic and social well-being while protecting the environment, it is also about working together, across the globe, to responsibly manage the earth's life support systems and ecosystems.

This is a collective undertaking that requires all countries to cooperate in order to secure our common future. It also requires the engagement of all actors, particularly business and industry and other major groups, in developing and using many of the technologies that will be needed. Voluntary commitments and partnerships, such as the 1,382 already registered at and since Rio+20 that are worth over $600 billion, will be key to realizing a more sustainable world.

Indeed, many countries have the know-how. And many have already begun to pioneer new ways of organizing their economies with more sustainable energy and transport systems. A number of countries are also investing heavily in renewable energy technologies and low-carbon public transport. Yet, considering the scale of the economic transformations that are needed, we will have to develop and disseminate technologies that are better, cleaner and affordable on a far grander scale. Let's be clear. The best brains, wherever they may be, are needed to make this mission a success.

If the positive legacy of Rio+20 is to be realized, the international community will need to rally around an ambitious set of sustainable development goals in 2015, and agree concretely on how we will work together to achieve them.

The future we are aiming at is one where poverty will be history and where all human beings can achieve the full development of their potential and live lives of dignity, while consuming and producing within the limits of the planet. Such a world is within our reach. And that is the future we want.

The author is the UN under-secretary-general for Economic and Social Affairs.

(China Daily 07/15/2013 page9)