The Planet Under Pressure Conference with its 3,000 participants is the world's largest gathering of experts on global environmental and social issues. The Co-Chairs of the Planet Under Pressure Conference 2012, Dr Lidia Brito and Dr Mark Stafford Smith, have issued their State of the Planet Declaration, reflecting the key messages emerging from the conference. It is supported by statements from the Board of Patrons, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and Youth Representatives. The declaration is to be seen in context of the UN Summit Rio+20 in June 2012. The conference presented new initiatives as recommendations for the Rio+20 Summit:

• Going beyond GDP by taking into account the value of natural capital when measuring progress.
• A new framework for developing a set of goals for global sustainability for all nations.
• Creating a UN Sustainable Development Council to integrate social, economic and environmental policy at the global level.
• Launching a new international research programme, Future Earth, that will focus on solutions.
• Initiating regular global sustainability analyses.