Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 to 22 June 2012. In the lead up to Rio+20, the Departments of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC) and Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) invited the HC Coombs Policy Forum to convene two policy forums.

The first forum, held in Canberra, invited academic, non-governmental and other stakeholders to discuss and focus on one of the themes of Rio+20, ‘a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication’.