Governance and the Sustainable Development Goals: The Increasing Relevance of Access Rights in Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the 2030 sustainable development agenda. Governance underlies all of the SDGs, because effective, accountable and inclusive institutions and procedures are essential to their realization. This article identifies and describes the features and structures of governance necessary for the attainment of the SDGs. Drawing on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and other legal sources, the article deconstructs the procedural rights which are integral to governance for sustainable development and emphasizes the need for effective accountability mechanisms at various levels. The article concludes that procedural rights and effective accountability at all levels is the key to governance that will transform political commitments to the 2030 sustainable development agenda into actual realities for people on the ground.