This guide was jointly initiated by Stakeholder Forum and the Commonwealth Secretariat in response to the perceived ‘knowledge gap’ on the history and dynamics of global governance for sustainable development. As the ‘institutional framework for sustainable development’ has been identified as one of the two core themes for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD 2012), it is hoped that this guide will provide necessary background information on global sustainable development governance to allow both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to familiarise themselves with key issues more comprehensively. The topic of ‘sustainable development governance’ is potentially vast, as governance touches on almost all decisions and policy considerations at all levels.