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| Rio Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the "Earth Summit," was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. The Earth Summit (held on the 20th anniversary of the first U.N. Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm 1972) made history by bringing global attention to the understanding that environment protection and natural resource management were closely linked to economic and social conditions, such as poverty. It recognized that social, environmental, and economic needs must be met in a balance with each other for sustainable outcomes in the long term. It captured this concept in the term "sustainable development" defined as ". . . development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This concept of sustainable development was proclaimed as a workable objective for everyone around the world, whether at the sub-national (e.g., local, regional, state, etc.), national, or international levels. The concept started a lively debate among governments, and between governments and their citizens, on how to achieve sustainability. President George H.W. Bush participated in the Earth Summit and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator William Reilly led the U.S. delegation. The Earth Summit produced:
The WSSD, in part, is the 10-year review of progress achieved in implementation of Agenda 21, consequently often called "Rio + 10". It is seeking to reinvigorate, at the highest political level, the global commitment to sustainable development and its implementation at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The Summit will not open Agenda 21 for revision, but will rather seek consensus on the current conditions and on priorities for further action. The agenda may include discussions on particular sectors (e.g., forests, oceans, energy, fresh water, agriculture, education) as well as cross-sectoral issues (e.g., finance, globalization, capacity building, technology transfer). Participants will be governments, multilateral financial institutions, United Nations agencies, citizen groups, business and industry, environmental organizations, and others. Citizen participation will be organized around the nine "major groups" as identified in Agenda 21 (business and industry, scientists, women, non-governmental organizations, indigenous people, youth, trade unions, state and local governments, and farmers) and include formal "Multistakeholder Dialogues" on specific topics. Return to WSSD Home Page |