Monebhurrun, Nitish

Nitish Monebhurrun

Biography

Nitish Monebhurrun (University Centre of Brasília, Brazil) 

Nitish Monebhurrun is an associate professor at the University Centre of Brasília, and is a visiting professor at the Universidad de la Sabana, Bogotá, Colombia. Previously, he served as a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Consultant for the Brazilian Competition Authority, and acted as an assistant lecturer at the Sorbonne Law School in Paris, France. Monebhurrun earned his PhD in international law from the Sorbonne Law School, and wrote his dissertation on the role of development in international investment law.

Abstract

From MDGs to SDGs: Paving the way towards a new procrastination. A lawyer’s perspective 

During the Rio+20 conference, the MDGs were merged into the newly coined SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). However, a scrutiny of the SDGs reveals that the 2012 Declaration brings no revolution and little evolution. Not only are the SDGs a new name for the MDGs but also they constitute a mere repetition of the 1992 Rio Conference. In this sense, the SDGs make, in reality, a 20-year step backward or remain, at best, stagnant; the serious debates on development issues are left to procrastinate at the international level. The paper highlights this critical approach by explaining how SDGs have existed since 1992. This is done by examining how legal instruments had already incorporated SDGs and how the 2012 Declaration will have very poor consequences for the legal reality of SDGs.