This 23-page report provides a detailed overview of each of the workshop sessions held as part of the 2-day, October 2006 Forum on Sustainability of the Planet. The event drew 135 sustainability experts from 33 countries to Stockholm, Sweden to ask a series of questions about sustainable development and strategies for supporting it, to propose ways forward, and to set a concrete course of action for implementing their ideas.

In general, the workshop saw "a strong will and intense commitment among a number of key international organisations to start to actively cooperate" on sustainability issues, with the expectation of "results that could influence both the political and business agenda." However, in envisioning how to move in this direction, participants identified several key gaps:

• The Awareness Gap
  
  
  • Questions asked included: Is there a lack of information or awareness about what "sustainable development" is and the urgency of addressing it?
    Do we know enough about the existing initiatives? Is more research needed? If so, what more should be done and by whom? What is the role for instruments such as the International Standards Organization (ISO), the Global Compact, and Global Reporting Initiative?
  • Among the responses: Most participants agreed that there is enough evidence supporting the call to take sustainability issues much more seriously than we do today. Most people accept sustainable
    development as a concept, but still not enough actions are being taken. We need to learn
    how to put the knowledge in practice and integrate it into businesses.

• The Policy Gap
  
  
  • Questions asked included: Can sustainable development be reached within current policies or are new policies and incentives needed? What is working well now and what isn't - at the government level? at the business level? What policy changes would be
    the most effective in creating a business environment where business could become the sustainability champions?
  • Among the responses: There is a concern about the lack of premium placed on working and investing in a sustainable way. Often, governments cannot distinguish companies that take action from those that do not; political back-up is needed to ensure that those who do well within the environmental field receive benefits. That is, when it comes to organisational learning and changing working patterns towards sustainable development, the proposed strategy involves not punishment but, rather, encouragement, incentives, and awards for businesses taking the lead in this area. Participants noted that, because of the competition in the market and between companies, there is a reluctance to share knowledge about environmental performance, though this is information that should be accessible by all. A policy change is required, said one participant. Another stressed the importance of commitment, involvement, and initiative for institutional change on the part of countries and strong leaders amongst large emitters (e.g., the United States and China).

• The Funding Gap - One participant noted that governments need to integrate environmental aspects into economic decision making and develop the right strategies to do so. One means of fostering this process would be mobilising a strong international organisation to put pressure on major leaders/countries to take responsibility. They should also work to fund, assist, and provide simple tools for businesses to operate in a sustainable way, he argued. Another point to emerge from this discussion: When producing future standards, the participation of developing countries and other under-represented stakeholders must be increased.
• The Implementation Gap - Participants observed that, in some cases, important declarations, regulations, and conventions relevant to sustainable development are not being fully implemented - for example, those commitments related to human rights. Norms and standard-setting processes depend on the public scrutinising of the market (companies), participants noted. They also stressed the importance of communication of progress - and, in particular, sharing of good experiences - for the process of sustainability.
• The Instrument Gap - Participants felt that, first, existing instruments are not being used to their full potential; for example, why do the majority of organisations still not measure their sustainability impacts? Participants repeatedly urged the need for development of new indicators and methodologies to enable assessment of when a company is part of the problem or part of the solution. Along these lines, one speaker emphasised the "great value" that would come in measuring the efficiency of implementation of standards for sustainability - in part by introducing a scientific testing period before launching new standards to understand the users' perspective and make sure that useful standards are produced. The second component to this gap is that important instruments are still missing to help achieving sustainability; one example is giving strong incentives to small organisations - or even developing countries - with strong records related to sustainability.

Reflecting on these gaps and strategies for bridging them, workshop participants concluded that a new long-term global programme, which includes specific actions and follow-up to promote sustainable development and bring sustainability into reality, is urgently needed. Partnership will be a key component of this way forward: Organisations such as the ISO, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), UN Global Compact should take the initiative and partner in "Sustainability of the Planet". This and other initiatives should, according to participants, be:

• Actionable - for specific sectors and with specific actions.
• Optimise use of existing institutions - Rather than reinventing the wheel, create better links between institutions, including through informal forums, e.g., ISO.
• Share best practice - e.g., by pooling research or commissioning new research.
• Use a multi-stakeholders approach - Stimulate "out of the box thinking" and build coalitions for change, ensuring a globally balanced approach by including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and experts working "in the field".
• Identify targets and milestones - Actions and progress should be measurable and measured.
• Encourage policy consistency and simplicity.
• Use market/economic instruments as far as possible to produce measurable positive change on human rights, labour and environmental issues.

Participants closed by indicating that a logical step ahead as part of Phase II of this workshop-based initiative will be forging a closer cooperation that is centred on efforts to more closely link business incentives to the public policy framework in creating an active partnership between governments and business. "It is important to emphasize the need for a long-term commitment among these organisations to actively be engaged in working closer together on sustainability issues to increase the likelihood to achieve practical and measurable results in the short term."