As the population of the world is reaching 7 billion in 2015 the challenges the globe faces will be more stringent than today. The least what can be said is that notwithstanding our knowledge the system is not working right now. There is a tremendous imbalance of focus on the issues of war and peace, and less on the dying and suffering of the poor who have no voice. At the same time the depletion of natural resources goes on at an ever increasing rate, putting for the current and future generations a tremendous mortgage on the ecological sustainability of mother earth. The requirement that sustainable development applies equally for the benefit of the world’s ‘have-nots’ as well as ‘haves’ places a particular heavy responsibility on today’s political systems, international businesses, the research community and stakeholders at different levels of economic development.

The research agenda for sustainability involves building greater capacity in science and technology, with actions to improve collaboration and partnership on research and development and their widespread application among research institutions, universities, the private sector, government and non-government organizations and networks, as well as between and among scientists and academics of developing and developed countries. Successful research for sustainability will bring about advances that benefit humankind, make everyday life easier, protect the environment and tap new employment potential. Unfortunately initiatives to promote innovative approaches to resource management are still limited and poorly coordinated, and require in addition of environmental leadership more coherent governance at multi-levels and multi-scales of the society. Environmental improvement so far is still modest in the face of growth and consumption and population. In many developed and developing countries environmental leadership is weak, laws still exist that subsidize unsustainable practices and grandfather inefficient facilities, decision-making is fragmented and capacity for comprehensive and strategic action at national and local level is very limited. Previous once more underscores the urgent need for multi-level environmental governance and multi-scale scenario development.