● General Objective: Develop an institutional analysis about how the GEG issues are managed within the United Nations, framing it into the ongoing preparation process of the next 2012 Rio Conference on Sustainable Development. ● Specific Objectives: - List and analyze the main MEAs, the topics that they refer to, and the actors that manage each of them, according to the defined methodology. - List and analyze the main Actors that are currently working on environment and sustainability, that are taking part of the ongoing GEG debate. - Read critically the current analysis and proposals that outcome from the Secretary-General Report on the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development on the reform of the institutional Framework on GEG. - Develop conclusions and proposals about the challenges on the Institutional Framework on GEG within the United Nations.

The purpose of this Master's Thesis is to analyze the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development debate that is currently happening into the ongoing preparation process of the 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development, and more concretely about the Global Environmental Governance institutions within the United Nations. In order to achieve this aim this study contextualizes the previously mentioned debate, through three parts: historical review of the Global Environmental Governance, analysis of the current Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and United Nations actors' analysis. These three parts are essential to understand the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development and Global Environmental Governance debate; as the actors and the Multilateral Environmental Agreements define the Institutional Framework that should make possible to face the Environmental problems and Challenges. After contextualizing the Global Environmental Governance, the Secretary-General Report on the Preparatory Committee Recently held in New York [1] is critically read, arriving to different conclusions and proposals; among them the fact that the United Nations trends to duplicate structures which work on similar topics, the suggestion that thematic clustering of some of the current MEAs could improve the lack of coordination among actors involved in the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development, the need of creation of a Global monitoring system on Environmental impact assessment or the difficulties that the United Nations shows for integrating environmental topics within its structure.