Over the past month or so I have attended a number of meetings or conferences where the forthcoming World Conference on Sustainable Development (dubbed Rio+20) in June 2012 has been a high priority item on the agenda. To some, it is an opportunity to reflect on the various successes and failures since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972 (hence Stockholm+40)—and yes there are still some people actively engaged who remember this event. To others, it
