The debate on sustainable development has fostered the experimentation of new governance models that more deeply involve the private sector. One formula has been particularly in vogue since the 1990's: the multistakeholder partnership, a voluntary collaborative process among players from different sectors (governments, international organizations, business and/or NGOs). This article aims at comparing the discourse on multistakeholder partnership, which has become a buzzword in the international community, with the reality of the practices on the ground. It is based on an empirical comparative study carried on between 2003 and 2006 on four different cases of partnerships in the energy sector. The purpose of the article is to determine whether this new collaborative formula is a promising political innovation for sustainable development or not.