What?

The United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development (UNCED), popularly known as the Earth Summit,

was convened in the hopes of securing a number of

environmentally responsible international agreements.

The Rio Summit focused on developing a global framework for

addressing environmental degradation through sustainable

development.

As Thomas Kamm wrote in the Wall Street Journal, this "mother

of all summits" was "the biggest gathering of world leaders ever

held".

The Rio Summit was unlike other UN conferences, in terms of its

large scale, public nature, and wide ranging topics.

The Rio Summit also set the agenda for all subsequent UN

conferences examining the interconnections between human

rights, population, health, social and economic development,

and environmental sustainability. Regional and international

development policies were explicitly developed with

consideration of environmental and economic impacts. These

discussions led to critical examinations of the environmental and

health impacts of common household agents such as gasoline

and pesticides. Similarly, the Summit focused awareness on the

increasing scarcity of fresh water and diminishing fishing

resources and explored ways to replace fossil fuels with

alternative energies such as wind, solar, and water.

The main themes and agendas of the Rio Summit were

condensed into several documents and institutional

mechanisms. The documents provided guidance for

communities worldwide who desired to integrate sustainable

development goals into their governance structure.

When?

The Rio Earth Summit, was held June 3 – 14, 1992, which around

two weeks, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Who?

The conference brought together the largest number of world

leaders that had ever been assembled: 118 heads of state and

government and delegations from 178 nations), as well as 2,400

Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) representatives. The

Summit attendees collaborated on innovative ways to address

pressing environmental concerns and largely focused on the

need for broad-based, environmentally-focused sustainable

development.

Through media coverage from the 7,000 journalists who were

present, UNCED gained world attention for major environmental

issues. The chief official for UNCED was Maurice Strong, a

Canadian businessman and environmentalist.

Why?

The primary goals of the Summit were to come to an

understanding of “development” that would support socio-

economic development and prevent the continued deterioration

of the environment, and to lay a foundation for a global

partnership between the developing and the more industrialized

countries, based on mutual needs and common interests, that

would ensure a healthy future for the planet.

The UN sought to help Governments rethink economic

development and find ways to halt the destruction of

irreplaceable natural resources and pollution of the planet.

The Summit’s message — that nothing less than a

transformation of our attitudes and behaviour would bring

about the necessary changes — was transmitted by almost

10,000 on-site journalists and heard by millions around the

world. The message reflected the complexity of the problems

facing us: that poverty as well as excessive consumption by

affluent populations place damaging stress on the environment.

How?

Governments recognized the need to redirect international and

national plans and policies to ensure that all economic decisions

fully took into account any environmental impact. And the

message has produced outcomes, making eco-efficiency a

guiding principle for business and governments alike.

Patterns of production — particularly the production of

toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous

waste — are being scrutinized in a systematic manner by

the UN and Governments alike;

Alternative sources of energy are being sought to replace

the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate

change;

New reliance on public transportation systems is being

emphasized in order to reduce vehicle emissions,

congestion in cities and the health problems caused by

polluted air and smog;

There is much greater awareness of and concern over the

growing scarcity of water.

Result?

The Rio Summit was successful at moving beyond mere

discussions of development and the environment. As a direct

result of the Summit, three major agreements (ratified by 108

governments) and two legally binding conventions substantiated

the talks. The agreements included:

Agenda 21,

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

Statement of Forest Principles.

In addition, two legally binding Conventions aimed at preventing

global climate change and the eradication of the diversity of

biological species were opened for signature at the Summit,

giving high profile to these efforts:

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

The Convention on Biological Diversity

Agenda 21 addresses today are pressing problems and aims to

prepare the world for the challenges of the next century. It

contains detailed proposals for action in social and economic

areas (such as combating poverty, changing patterns of

production and consumption and addressing demographic

dynamics), and for conserving and managing the natural

resources that are the basis for life such as protecting the

atmosphere (Oceans and biodiversity, preventing deforestation,

and promoting sustainable agriculture) for example.

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

supports Agenda 21 by defining the rights and responsibilities of

States regarding these issues. Among its principles:

Principle 1. The role of man

Principle 2. State sovereignty

Principle 3. The Right to development

Principle 4. Environmental Protection in the Development

Process

Principle 5. Eradication of Poverty

Principle 6. Priority for the Least Developed

Principle 7. State Cooperation to Protect Ecosystem

Principle 8. Reduction of Unsustainable Patterns of Production

and Consumption

Principle 9. Capacity Building for Sustainable Development

Principle 10. Public participation

Principle 11. National Environmental Legislation

Principle 12. Supportive and Open International Economic

System

Principle 13. Compensation for Victims of Pollution and other

Environmental Damage

Principle 14. State Cooperation to Prevent environmental

dumping

Principle 15. Precautionary principle

Principle 16. Internalization of Environmental Costs

Principle 17. Environmental Impact Assessments

Principle 18. Notification of Natural Disaster

Principle 19. Prior and Timely Notification

Principle 20. Women have a Vital Role

Principle 21. Youth Mobilization

Principle 22. Indigenous Peoples have a Vital Role

Principle 23. People under Oppression

Principle 24. Warfare

Principle 25. Peace, Development and Environmental Protection

Principle 26. Resolution of Environmental Disputes

Principle 27. Cooperation between State and People

That human beings are at the centre of concerns for

sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy

and productive life in harmony with nature;

That scientific uncertainty should not delay measures to

prevent environmental degradation where there are

threats of serious or irreversible damage;

That States have a sovereign right to exploit their own

resources but not to cause damage to the environment of

other States;

That eradicating poverty and reducing disparities in

worldwide standards of living are “indispensable” for

sustainable development;

That the full participation of women is essential for

achieving sustainable development; and

That the developed countries acknowledge the

responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit

of sustainable development in view of the pressures their

societies place on the global environment and of the

technologies and financial resources they command.

The Statement of Forest Principles, the non–legally binding

statement of principles for the sustainable management of

forests, was the first global consensus reached on forests.

Among its provisions:

That all countries, notably developed countries, should

make an effort to “green the world” through

reforestation and forest conservation

That States have a right to develop forests according to

their socio-economic needs, in keeping with national

sustainable development policies

That specific financial resources should be provided to

develop programmes that encourage economic and social

substitution policies

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally

as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The

Convention has three main goals:

conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity);

sustainable use of its components; and

fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic

resources

In other words, its objective is to develop national strategies for

the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. It is

often seen as the key document regarding sustainable

development.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty

(currently the only international climate policy venue with broad

legitimacy, due in part to its virtually universal membership).

The objective of the treaty is to "stabilize greenhouse

gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would

prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate

system".

The treaty itself set no binding limits on greenhouse gas

emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement

mechanisms. In that sense, the treaty is considered legally non-

binding. Instead, the treaty provides a framework for

negotiating specific international treaties (called "protocols")

that may set binding limits on greenhouse gases.

Future?

The United Nations (UN) set up a Commission on Sustainable

Development (CSD) for effective follow-up. In 1997 at the New

York headquarters, the UN General Assembly held a five-year

review of progress on Earth Summit, commonly called Rio+5.

The assembly found uneven progress, with widening inequities

in income and continued environmental deterioration.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development WSSD (called

Earth Summit 2002) was held, after ten years, in Johannesburg,

South Africa, in 2002; it was boycotted by the United States. The

UN simultaneously sponsored an intensive analysis, the

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and a statement of

millennium development goals.

Rio+5 (1997)

In 1997, the UN General Assembly held a special session to

appraise the status of Agenda 21 (Rio +5). The Assembly

recognized progress as "uneven" and identified key trends,

including increasing globalization, widening inequalities in

income, and continued deterioration of the global environment.

A new General Assembly Resolution promised further action.

Rio+10 (2002)

The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, agreed at the World

Summit on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2002)

affirmed UN commitment to "full implementation" of

Agenda 21, alongside achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals and other international agreements.

Rio+20 (2012)

In 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development the attending members reaffirmed their

commitment to Agenda 21 in their outcome document called

"The Future We Want". 180 leaders from nations participated.

There has been some progress of note since Rio in achieving the

Agenda 21 plan of action. The percentage of the world’s

grinding poor fell from one-quarter to one-fifth of the world’s

population. Although there are more than 2 billion nutrition-

deficient people, the world faces no overall food scarcity. And

the sometimes recalcitrant US administration recently

announced a 50% (5$ billion USD) increase in US foreign aid

spending over 3 years.

However, there is plenty of bad news regarding progress since

Rio in environmental and human indicators. Population grew

from approximately 5 billion to 6 billion people as the number

of people who earn less than 2 US$ per day increased by tens of

millions.

Carbon emissions have increased nearly 10% (nearly 20% in

US). HIV has exploded in sub-Saharan Africa (20-40% infection

rate in southern African nations) And increasingly uneven

development is implicated in desertification, the plummeting of

fish stocks, widespread draught and salinization, and wildlife

species disappearing at unprecedented rates, much of these due

to tropical deforestation claiming an approximately 200,000

square kilometers every year. Yet the political commitment of

the world’s wealthiest nations, particularly the US, to reversing

these processes remains far from matching the cost they exact

on society.

The US’ proposed aid increase brings its foreign aid package to

not even one-fifth the 1992 pledge to earmark 0.7% of annual

GDP to foreign assistance. This amounts to less than one billion

dollars a month; a meager sum next to a US military budget in

excess of one billion dollars per day. At the Rio Earth Summit

ten years prior, the world’s richest nations committed to halve

poverty by 2007, to eradicate hunger, reduce under-5 mortality

by 2/3rds, and to enroll all children in school. The UN estimates

the cost of achieving these goals at between 40-60 billion dollars

over the amount that would be produced from the 0.7%

commitment - merely several weeks worth of our military

spending or one-sixth of what the West spends to subsidize its

farmers. In an attempt to rectify some of these problems, and

lack of international commitment in solving them, the UN

convened a summit ten years after Rio, the 2002 Johannesburg

World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

The WSSD held August 26–September 4, 2002 in Johannesburg,

South Africa, aimed at assessing developments since the Rio

Earth Summit and reinforcing multilateral commitments to

sustainable development. More than 20,000 participants, from

governmental (representing 180 countries) and non-

governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, and the

scientific community addressed increasing challenges in

environmental degradation and sustainable development. The

large number of unmet accords inherited from the 1992 Rio

Summit—due to flaccid commitment by the wealthiest nations

to mobilize around these concerns and in no small part to the

U.S. government’s failure to participate in key global treaties

(such as the Kyoto Accord)— called for significant structural

changes at the 2002 Johannesburg Summit. One change was to

revisit the accords, some changes include: halving the

proportion of people that lack access to clean water or proper

sanitation and restoring depleted fisheries by 2015. In

reassessing progress in the MDGs and Agenda 21 since Rio,

Summit organizers also decided to strengthen collaborations

beyond government. Sectors explicitly included were business,

women and children, trade unions, indigenous, local non-

governmental groups, farmers, and the scientific community.

Most saliently, the organizers included a parallel event to

strengthen civil society participation, the Stakeholders Forum

Implementation Conference.