The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
conference held in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
Earth Summit was created as a response for
member state
A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation.
Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign state ...
s to cooperate together internationally on development issues after the
Cold War. Due to issues relating to
sustainability being too big for individual member states to handle, Earth Summit was held as a platform for other member states to collaborate. Since the creation, many others in the field of sustainability show a similar development to the issues discussed in these conferences, including
non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Issues addressed
The issues addressed includes:
* systematic scrutiny of patterns of production—particularly the production of toxic components, such as
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
in
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...
, or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals
* alternative sources of energy to replace the use of
fossil fuels which delegates linked to global
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
* new reliance on
public transportation
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health problems caused by polluted air and smoke
* the growing usage and limited supply of
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...
* importance of protecting the world's oceans.
Development
An important achievement of the summit was an agreement on the
Climate Change Convention which in turn led to the
Kyoto Protocol and the
Paris Agreement. Another agreement was to "not to carry out any activities on the lands of
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
that would cause
environmental degradation or that would be culturally inappropriate".
The
Convention on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...
was opened for signature at the Earth Summit and made a start towards a redefinition of measures that did not inherently encourage the destruction of natural
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
s and so-called
uneconomic growth
Uneconomic growth is economic growth that reflects or creates a decline in the quality of life. The concept is used in human development theory, welfare theory, and ecological economics. It is usually attributed to ecological economist Her ...
.
World Oceans Day
World Oceans Day is an international day that takes place annually on 8 June. The concept was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada's International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit ...
was initially proposed at this conference and has been recognized since then.
Although President
George H. W. Bush signed the Earth Summit’s Convention on Climate, his EPA Administrator William K. Reilly acknowledges that U.S. goals at the conference were difficult to negotiate and the agency’s international results were mixed, including the U.S. failure to sign the proposed Convention on Biological Diversity.
Twelve cities were also honored with the Local Government Honours Award for innovative local environmental programs. These included
Sudbury in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
for its ambitious program to rehabilitate environmental damage from the local
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
industry,
Austin in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
for its
green building
Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planni ...
strategy, and
Kitakyūshū in
Japan for incorporating an international education and training component into its municipal
pollution control
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
program.
The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents:
*
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, often shortened to Rio Declaration, was a short document produced at the 1992 United Nations "Conference on Environment and Development" (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit. The Rio Decl ...
*
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
*
Forest Principles The Forest Principles (also Rio Forest Principles, formally the Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests) is a 1992 document ...
Moreover, important legally binding agreements (
Rio Convention) were opened for signature:
*
Convention on Biological Diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...
*
Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...
(UNFCCC)
At Rio it was agreed that an International Negotiating Committee for a third convention the
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through ...
would be set up. This convention was negotiated within two years of Rio and then open for signature it became effective in 1996 after receiving 50 ratifications. At this stage, youth were not officially recognised within climate governance.
In order to ensure compliance to the agreements at Rio (particularly the
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, often shortened to Rio Declaration, was a short document produced at the 1992 United Nations "Conference on Environment and Development" (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit. The Rio Decl ...
and
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
), delegates to the Earth Summit established the
Commission on Sustainable Development
The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was a body under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) tasked with overseeing the outcomes of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development/Earth Summit. It ...
(CSD). In 2013, the CSD was replaced by the
High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
The United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is a subsidiary body of both the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Economic and Social Council responsible for the entire organization's policy on ...
that meets every year as part of the ECOSOC meetings, and every fourth year as part of the General Assembly meetings.
Critics point out that many of the agreements made in Rio have not been realized regarding such fundamental issues as fighting
poverty and cleaning up the
environment.
Green Cross International
Green Cross International is an environmentalist organisation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. Today, member organisations are in 30 countries. Its primary mission is to "respond to ...
was founded to build upon the work of the Summit.
The first edition of Water Quality Assessments, published by WHO/
Chapman & Hall
Chapman & Hall is an Imprint (trade name), imprint owned by CRC Press, originally founded as a United Kingdom, British publishing house in London in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman (publisher), Edward Chapman and William Hall ...
, was launched at the Rio Global Forum.
Youth
Although youth were not given specific recognition, there was a significant youth turnout at UNCED. Youth were involved in negotiating Chapter 25 of Agenda 21 on Children & Youth in Sustainable Development.
"25.2 It is imperative that youth from all parts of the world participate actively in all relevant levels of decision-making processes because it affects their lives today and has implications for their futures. In addition to their intellectual contribution and their ability to mobilize support, they bring unique perspectives that need to be taken into account."
Two years prior to UNCED youth organized internationally to prepare for the Earth Summit. Youth concerns were consolidated at a World Youth Environmental Meeting, Juventud (Youth) 92, held in Costa Rica, before the Earth Summit.
“The involvement of today’s youth in environment and development decision-making…is critical to the long term success of Agenda 21” (UNCED 1992).
Parallel to UNCED, youth organized the
Youth '92 conference with participation from around the world. Organising took place before, but also afterwards. Many youth participants were dissatisfied with the rate of change.
See also
*
Earth Summits - list of the other summits before and after Rio 1992 (the first one in 1972)
*
Ecology summit
*
Global Map
*
Maurice Strong
Maurice Frederick Strong, (April 29, 1929 – November 27, 2015) was a Canadian oil and mineral businessman and a diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.E Masood (2015) Maurice Strong, Nature 528(7583), 480.
Strong ...
*
Precautionary principle
The precautionary principle (or precautionary approach) is a broad epistemological, philosophical and legal approach to innovations with potential for causing harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. It emphasizes caut ...
*
Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian countries
*
Severn Suzuki
Severn Cullis-Suzuki (born 30 November 1979) is a Canadian environmental activist and writer. She has spoken around the world about environmental issues, urging listeners to define their values, act with the future in mind, and take individual r ...
*
The Environmental Institute
The Environmental Institute (O Instituto Ambiental (OIA)) is a non-profit organization devoted exclusively to building and managing Integrated Biosystems that purify sewage water in urban areas and for small farms and agro-industries in South Ameri ...
*
Tommy Koh
Tommy Koh Thong Bee (; born 12 November 1937) is a Singaporean diplomat, lawyer, professor and author who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1968 and 1971.
Early life and education
Koh was born in S ...
- link to the Chairman of the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development
*
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 5–16 in 1972.
When the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the 1972 Stockholm Conference, taking up the offer of the Government of S ...
1972
*
United Nations Climate Change conference
The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties (Conference of the Parties, ...
- a yearly summit held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
References
External links
Documents from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (also known as UNCED or the Earth Summit) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1992
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3-14 June 1992Water Quality Assessments pdfVideo: Severn Suzuki, 12 years old, speaks for Environmental Children Organization UNCED 1992Address at Rio Earth Summit Tenzin Gyatso
The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...
Dalai Lama
Agenda 21 at the Center for a World in Balance* A critica
New Internationalistkeynote about th
1992 Rio Earth SummitRio Summit articles at the India Environment Portal
Rio+20 on India Environment Portal
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