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 Declaration consisted of 27 principles intended to guide countries in future sustainable development. It was signed by over 175 countries.
History
The Rio Conference, which adopted the Declaration, took place from 3 to 14 June 1992. Subsequently, the international community has met twice to assess the progress made in implementing the principles of the document; first in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1997 during a General Assembly Session of the UN, and then in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
in 2002. While the document helped to raise environmental awareness, evidence from 2007 suggested that little of the document's environmental goals had at that time been achieved.
Content
Referring to the "integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, "our home", the Rio Declaration proclaims 27 principles. The first principle states that sustainable development primarily concerns
human beings
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are great apes characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intellige ...
, who are entitled to live
health
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
y and
productive lives in harmony with nature.
[UN Documentation Centre]
Rio Declaration
Article 1 Article 11 creates an expectation that states will enact
environmental legislation
Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, Convention (political norm), conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the ...
. Further articles include formulations of the
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 cautio ...
, which should be "widely applied by states according to their capabilities" (principle 15), and of the
polluter pays principle
In environmental law, the polluter pays principle is enacted to make the Party (law), party responsible for producing pollution responsible for paying for the damage done to the natural environment. This principle has also been used to put the cos ...
, which states are encouraged to adopt where it is in the
public interest
In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...
to do so and it will not distort
international trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.)
In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...
and investment (principle 16). The final principle invites fulfillment of the other principles in a spirit of good faith.
The Rio Declaration expresses a positive view of
traditional ecological knowledge.
See also
*
Three generations of human rights
The division of human rights into three generations was initially proposed in 1979 by the Czech jurist Karel Vasak at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He used the term at least as early as November 1977. Vasak's theori ...
References
External links
UN Documentation CentreThe full text of the Rio Declaration.
on the ''Rio Declaration on Environment and Development'' in th
{{Authority control
1992 documents
1992 in the United Nations
Environmental protection
International sustainable development
United Nations Development Programme