The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference,

Earth Summit (Portuguese: Eco '92) was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.

Overview
172 governments participated, with 108 sending their heads of state or government.[1] Some 2,400 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attended, with 17,000 people at the parallel NGO "Global Forum" (a.k.a. Forum Global), who had Consultative Status. The issues addressed included:

systematic scrutiny of patterns of production particularly the production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate change new reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health problems caused by polluted air and smog the growing scarcity of water

An important achievement was an agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol. Another agreement was to "not carry out any activities on the lands of indigenous peoples that would cause environmental degradation or that would be culturally inappropriate". The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at the Earth Summit, and made a start towards redefinition of measures that did not inherently encourage destruction of natural ecoregions and so-called uneconomic growth. Twelve cities were also honoured by the Local Government Honours Award for innovative local environmental programs. These included Sudbury in Canada for its ambitious program to rehabilitate environmental damage from the local mining industry, Austin in the United States for its green building strategy, and Kitakysh in Japan for incorporating an international education and training component into its municipal pollution control program. The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents:

Rio Declaration on Environment and Development[2] Agenda 21[3][4] Forest Principles

Moreover, two important legally binding agreements were opened for signature:

Convention on Biological Diversity[5] Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Critics, however, 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 was founded to build upon the work of the Summit.

About Earth Summit

EARTH SUMMIT WHAT IS IT?

The Earth Summit 2012 is formally known as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) or Rio+20. In 1992, world leaders met at the Earth Summit 1992 to create a road map for sustainable development a plan known as Agenda 21. Twenty years later, these leaders are meeting again to look at the progress weve made, and the challenges we still face. Weve succeeded in solving problems such as the hole in the ozone layer, but a myriad of new problems have come up, and we have reached our full capacity. The Earth Summit 2012 is a chance for nations to commit to real changes and to figure out how theyre going to do it. Earth Summit 2012 has two main themes and three objectives.
THEMES

A Green Economy in the Context of Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development. The recent economic troubles are proof that we need to create a more stable green economy. A green economy would incorporate social and environmental sustainability along with development by valuing goods and services provided by ecosystems. A green economy does not ignore people who suffer in poverty or assume an infinite supply of natural resources. A green economy will tax pollution instead of labour. It will make it easier and more profitable for businesses and consumers to make greener choices. It will also encourage more efficient technologies and infrastructure that will sustain large populations. Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development. Institutional Framework refers to the system of global organization for sustainable development. This system includes the UN institutions in charge of developing and monitoring sustainable development programs. Progress on sustainable development has been slow partly because this system isnt working: the international organizations involved do not have the authority or the resources to make real change. For sustainable development to move forward, the system needs to be streamlined and given more resources and authority from participating states.

OBJECTIVES

Securing Political Commitment to Sustainable Development. All the leaders involved in the conference need to make concrete commitments. We need leaders to take responsibility we want their assurance that they will make every effort to develop sustainably. Canada is a key player in securing international commitment. We are a global leader, and if we make a real commitment, others will follow! Current International Agreements. Several commitments to sustainable development have been made at past UN conferences, including Agenda 21 (1992), the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (2002). Before we can move forward, we need to look at how far weve come in honouring these commitments. More information on past conferences and commitments can be found in the Background section of the website. Addressing New and Emerging Challenges. Many of the challenges we face have become more urgent as they occur simultaneously with other problems; we need to address them before they get worse. These challenges include the financial crisis, a growing food security crisis, water scarcity, forced migration and natural disaster preparedness. Canada must take the lead in addressing these challenges, many of which affect countries much poorer than our own.

Earth Summit History

CONFERENCE ON HUMAN ENVIRONMENT, STOCKHOLM 1972

Man is unlikely to succeed in managing his relationship with nature unless in the course of it he learns to manage better the relations between man and man. - From Maurice Strongs opening statements at the 1972 Stockholm Conference on Human Environment

Declaration from the UN Conference on the Human Environment

The 1972 Stockholm Conference put environmental issues on the international agenda for the first time and laid the groundwork for progress in the environment and development. Under the leadership of Canadian Conference Secretary-General Maurice Strong, government officials from industrialized and developing nations met alongside NGOs to create The UN Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP would address environmental problems humans have created that contribute to economic injustices, mass poverty, and racial prejudices.

BRUNTLAND COMMISSION, OUR COMMON FUTURE 1987

Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. - From Part One of the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future With the release of Our Common Future, the World Commission on Environment and Development gave sustainable development a concrete definition for the first time. Known more commonly as the Brundtland Commission named for its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Commission addressed a new generation of environmental issues directly linked to development. The Commissions 1987 report highlighted how growth rates, in both developing and industrialized nations, would prove to be unsustainable in the long run.
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AKA EARTH SUMMIT, RIO DE JANEIRO 1992

Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. - Principal 1 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

Agenda 21, UN Conference on Environment and Development Rio Declaration, UN Conference on Environment and Development

Twenty years after the Stockholm conference, UN member states and stakeholders met in Brazil. Canadian Conference Secretary-General Maurice Strong guided the events aiming to hash out the details of a global strategy to reduce human impact on the environment. Governments recognized that increasing consumption goes hand-in-hand with increasing poverty levels, further depleting finite natural resources. Economic and environmental issues could not be addressed independently. The result of the Rio Conference, known as the Earth Summit 1992, was a series of agreements including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Agenda 21. Agenda 21 is the most comprehensive plan to date outlining necessary actions for sustainable development at local, national and international levels.
EARTH SUMMIT +5, NEW YORK 1997

The special session should take a hard, honest and critical look at what has been done and what has not been done since Rio, says Mr. Razali Ismail, President of the General Assembly. We need to recall and re-emphasize the compact that brought about the Earth Summit.

UN Millennium Development Goals

A special session of the UN General Assembly was held in June 1997. The purpose of the New York summit was to review and accelerate the implementation of Agenda 21 and other

agreements made in Rio. Although there had been some successes since the Earth Summit 1992, members who met in New York were frustrated with degrading environmental conditions and rising levels of poverty worldwide. Leaders recommitted to the goals of Agenda 21, and it was agreed that considerable work was yet to be done, especially to address the effects of climate change.

UN Millennium Development Goals

WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, JOHANNESBURG 2002

From the African continent, the cradle of humankind, we solemnly pledge to the peoples of the world and the generations that will surely inherit this Earth that we are determined to ensure that our collective hope for sustainable development is realized. - From the Johannesburg Declaration

Report from the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development

There was broad stakeholder participation in the 2002 summit, from governments, businesses and industries, children and youth, farmers, indigenous people, local authorities, nongovernmental organizations, scientific and technological communities, women, workers, and trade unions. The result was the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, which sought to strengthen the implementation of Agenda 21 and the role of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development with special regard to developing countries.

Sustainable Development
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW

Sustainability is about more than the effects we see in nature magazines. Developing sustainably requires flexible and resilient planning to look past the surface of our actions, and to examine the ideas and the systems that underlie our society. Sustainability is like an iceberg. When we see an iceberg on the ocean, we are only seeing the tip of it. The iceberg is actually much bigger than it appears, with the bulk of it hidden underwater. When we think of sustainability and environmental or social injustice, we may think only of the effects that are most visible to us species going extinct, hungry people, forests cut down, or changing climates. What we may not consider are the patterns and behaviours that underlie and perpetuate all these effects the aspects of the sustainability iceberg that are below water. To achieve long-term sustainability, we have to look at the big picture, including the underlying systems we may not see at first.
Events and Impacts

At the tip of the iceberg, you can explore all the different topics usually addressed in the media, such as the sustainability topics listed in the UNs Agenda 21.

Systems

In the middle, we have the systems that have an impact the way things are made, transported, and disposed of; the way we have designed our economy to function; the policies and institutions we have developed. We dont always notice these systems working, so they can easily be ignored. However, if these systems arent changed, the effects will only worsen.
Attitudes and Behaviours

At the bottom of the iceberg are our social and mental frameworks the way we have learned to think about our planet, our society, ourselves, and others. These foundations are developed through years of cultural learning, and are much harder to change than the mug we choose for our coffee. If we dont start to think about what is truly important to usand how we live our lives, then real change is a distant goal.

EVENTS AND IMPACTS

At the tip of the iceberg are the events and effects we are most familiar with. These are the kinds of images we see in the news: floods and hurricanes, droughts and lost food crops, dying animals, clear-cut forests, and children in poverty. They are the issues that tug at our heartstrings, . But often, these events that appear in our papers and on our television screens are part of a much bigger problem one that is deeply rooted in our cultures and economies. The events we see on TV were often a long time coming, and will have far-reaching consequences. They are not isolated, and they affect all of us, even if we only hear of the negative impacts happening on the other side of the world. These issues are the ones that we talk about in conferences, such as agriculture, chemicals and waste, oceans and rivers, poverty and social justice. It is important to understand these issues, and to learn the details of how they work and how they affect us. You can learn more about these topics on our Sustainability Topics page. However, we also need to dig deeper, to look at the reasons why these topics have become issues in the first place. We cant solve these problems by looking at the visible results alone. We have to lookbelow the surface of the water to see the hidden parts of the iceberg to understand the patterns and behaviors that caused these events to begin with, and start developing solutions to address the roots of these problems.

SYSTEMS
The economic systems we have created have served us well to a certain point. Industrialization and economic growth have contributed to the relative health and prosperity we enjoy today in the developed world. However, these systems are not perfect, especially when we become overly dependent on them. They require more resources than the earth can continue to provide, and create more waste than the planet can cope with. In developed countries like Canada, we often take our luxuries for granted were disconnected from the systems that maintain our

lifestyles, and we dont realize the effects they have on others. These economic systems, the way our goods are produced and consumed, and the way we measure growth need to change. We need to change our values related to consumption and production in Canada to create sustainable lifestyles that can serve as examples internationally. To develop sustainably, we need to take a good look at what, where, how, and why we consume and produce. We need to transform our society, redefine prosperity and good living, improve our economic system to encourage the eradication of poverty and green growth, and to focus on what life is really about: human wellbeing, strong communities, and healthy environments. As individuals, we can start working towards this transformation by making small changes in our own lives. But beyond our individual choices are broader systems of policy incentives and barriers, such as transportation infrastructures, tax cuts, waste management programs, and government subsidies. Governments need to understand and address the importance of underlying systems, and manage change across government and industry sectors in a coordinated way. The government has the power to make our individual choices for sustainability much easier, but its up to us to tell them that this is something we would like. These systems need to be changed globally as well as in Canada. A global economic framework for sustainable production and consumption needs to consider equity in our societyand across developed and developing countries. The Earth Summit 2012 is an opportunity to address the problems with these global economic systems and develop more equitable, sustainable systems worldwide.

ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS

Our ideas, attitudes, and decisions in daily life stem from deeply rooted assumptions and cultural norms. Years of marketing have told us to buy, buy, buy, get bigger, grow richer, work harder, and do more. This system has taken its toll on our decisions, our relationships, and our planet. The attitudes and behaviours we apply in our daily lives are deeply ingrained they become patterns, and reinforce the systems we have come to rely on, including the production and consumption systems that are now in place. It is because of our mental frameworks that we choose, or not, to pass laws, make certain investments and implement particular policies. They affect our decisions about transportation and whether we extract natural resources with or without respect for the environment, etc. These choices are based on our assumptions on how nature works, how humans behave, and the manner in which the two coexist. Our assumptions and attitudes are below the surface. We cannot see them, or feel them, and we often forget they are there. But uncover our attitudes and make them visible. Our attitudes and behaviours are an incredible opportunity; systems can be changed when the way we look at the world and at a particular problem is different from the mindset that created the problem in the first place.

Why the UN?

The United Nations was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War as an international organization with four main purposes:

To maintain global peace and security; To develop friendly relations among nations; To facilitate the cooperation of nations in solving international problems and encouraging respect for human rights and freedoms; To be a focal point for harmonizing the actions of nations.

Structurally, the UN is composed of main bodies, programmes and funds, and specialized agencies to carry out these goals. The 6 main bodies are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice. Examples of operating programmes and funds are the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Childrens Fund (UNICEF). Specialized agencies cover an immense range of fields from meteorology to health, and coordinate with the UN as separate organizations. As nations face emerging challenges, the United Nations functions as the only organization to which all governments and members of civil society may come together to discuss global issues. And the United Nations isnt just talk. With the largest network of country offices in the world, the institution is able to deliver on-the-ground assistance and coordination. The UNs comprehensive mandate also gives it the flexibility to accept emerging challenges, and the universal capacity and trust to do so as an impartial agency. While this is a time of great challenges for the world, it is also a time of great opportunity. As Earth Summit 2012 approaches with the topic of governance on the table, we have opportunity not only to recognize the United Nations as a powerful tool for addressing global issues and resolving conflict, but also to re-examine and strengthen processes for sustainable solutions.