The aim of this contribution is to provide a first detailed analysis of the main issues being debated and which will be discussed at the United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro, in June 2012: the green economy (GE) in the sustainable development (SD) context and the eradication of poverty, and the need to institutionalize SD. The basic question we must ask ourselves is how such topics can contribute to SD, and therefore to the pursuit of an improvement within each of the three SD dimensions and to a greater convergence between them. We must also ask ourselves how to renew the political commitment of Countries in favour of sustainable development, and the issue is substantially addressed – at least in UN documents – with reference to the developing Countries (DC). This paper is split into four paragraphs. The first two are dedicated to analysing a number of detailed discussion documents prepared by the United Nations for Rio + 20. The third mentions the position of the European Union (EU) with respect to the two topics being analysed; finally, the fourth and last paragraph, which concludes the paper and provides a contribution to solving a number of previously-raised issues, refers to a research project being implemented within the Postgraduate School for Environmental Studies (Alta Scuola per l’Ambiente - ASA) of the Sacro Cuore Catholic University.