One of the most significant outcomes from the 2012 Rio+20 Summit was the agreement to develop the Sustainable Development Goals, a new set of goals to succeed the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was given the mandate to initiate the appropriate work to support this process. He announced a high level panel on the post 2015-agenda, led by Indonesia, Liberia, the UK and Sweden.

The UN Secretary-General also announced the launch of a Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The network, which will be led by Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, consists of research centres, universities and technical institutions to "help find solutions to some of the world's most pressing environmental, social and economic problems."

Stockholm Resilience Centre will play a central part of this network.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs is Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and is widely considered to be the world's leading expert on economic development and the fight against poverty. His work has been focused on ending poverty, promoting economic growth, fighting hunger and disease, and promoting sustainable environmental practices.