United Nations Conference

on Environment and
Development
Rio Conference
• United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
byname Earth Summit, conference held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (June 3–
14, 1992), to reconcile worldwide economic development with protection
of the environment.
• The Earth Summit was the largest gathering of world leaders as of 1992,
with 117 heads of state and representatives of 178 nations in all
attending.
• By means of treaties and other documents signed at the conference, most
of the world’s nations nominally committed themselves to the pursuit of
economic development in ways that would protect the Earth’s 
environment and nonrenewable resources.
The main documents agreed upon
at the Earth Summit are as follows.
• The Convention on Biological Diversity is a binding treaty
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or Global
Warming Convention, is a binding treaty
• Such targets were eventually established in an amendment to the UNFCCC, the 
Kyoto Protocol (1997),
• superceded by the Paris Agreement on climate change (2015). 
• The Declaration on Environment and Development, or Rio Declaration, laid down 27
broad, nonbinding principles for environmentally sound development
•  Agenda 21 outlined global strategies for cleaning up the environment and encouraging
environmentally sound development. 
• The Statement of Principles on Forests, aimed at preserving the world’s rapidly vanishing 
tropical rainforests, is a nonbinding statement
1
• The Convention on Biological Diversity is a binding treaty requiring nations to take inventories of
their plants and wild animals and protect their endangered species. 
• Convention on Biological Diversity, also called Biodiversity Treaty, international treaty designed
to promote the conservation of biodiversity and to ensure the sustainable use and equitable
sharing of genetic resources.
• The convention was opened for signatures at the 
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, or Earth Summit, in June 1992 and
entered into force in December of that year. The parties to the convention include some 190
countries (though not the United States) and the European Union.
• The convention calls for the conservation of genetic resources by preserving sensitive ecosystems,
rehabilitating degraded ecosystems, and enacting legislation that protects endangered plant and
animal species.
• Additionally, the treaty requests financial assistance for developing countries so that they can
afford programs designed to conserve their biological resources. 
United Nations Framework Conventi
on on Climate
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
 (UNFCCC), or Global Warming Convention, is a binding treaty that
requires nations to reduce their emission of carbon dioxide, methane,
and other “greenhouse” gases thought to be responsible for 
global warming; the treaty stopped short of setting binding targets for
emission reductions, however. Such targets were eventually
established in an amendment to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol
 (1997), which was superceded by the Paris Agreement on 
climate change (2015).
Kyoto Protocol
• Kyoto Protocol, in full Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, international treaty,
named for the Japanese city in which it was adopted in December
1997, that aimed to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to 
global warming. In force since 2005, the protocol called for reducing
the emission of six greenhouse gases in 41 countries plus the 
European Union to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels during the
“commitment period” 2008–12. It was widely hailed as the most
significant environmental treaty ever negotiated, though some critics
questioned its effectiveness.
• an international treaty that committed its signatories to develop national programs to reduce
their emissions of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane
 (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and sulfur
hexafluoride (SF6), affect the energy balance of the global atmosphere in ways expected to lead
to an overall increase in global average temperature, known as global warming.
• One approach was to make use of natural processes, called “sinks,” that remove greenhouse
gases from the atmosphere. The planting of trees, which take up carbon dioxide from the air,
would be an example.
• Another approach was the international program called the Clean Development Mechanism
 (CDM), which encouraged developed countries to invest in technology and infrastructure in less-
developed countries, where there were often significant opportunities to reduce emissions. 
• A third approach was emissions trading, which allowed participating countries to buy and sell
emissions rights and thereby placed an economic value on greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Paris Agreement, in full Paris Agreement Under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, also called Paris Climate Agreement or COP21,
international treaty, named for the city of Paris, France, in which it was adopted
in December 2015, which aimed to reduce the emission of gases that contribute
to global warming. The Paris Agreement set out to improve upon and replace
the Kyoto Protocol, an earlier international treaty designed to curb the release
of greenhouse gases. It entered into force on November 4, 2016, and has been
signed by 197 countries and ratified by 187 as of November 2019.
• The objective was no less than a binding and universal agreement designed to
limit greenhouse gas emissions to levels that would prevent global temperatures
 from increasing more than 2 °C (3.6 °F) above the temperature benchmark set
before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Questions and discussions
• Que. 1. discuss the various achievements of 1992 summit.
• Que 2. discuss the mechanism that has been followed under the Paris
agreement to reduce the emissions of the green gases.
• Que. 3. debate on the various concerns/criticisms of the developing
nations on the 1992 Rio conference.
• que. 4. discuss to what extent the Rio 1992 conference is successful
in achieving the cause of environmental issues.
Refernces
• for the various binding and non binding treaties please visit
https://www.britannica.com/event/United-Nations-Conference-on-En
vironment-and-Development
• On the Principle agreed upon in the conference please consult
https://www.cbd.int/doc/ref/rio-declaration.shtml
Student work
• Student will search for an article related to the following aspect(s) of
the Rio 1992 conference.
• the various binding on non binding treaties,
• the various achievements,
• the flaws,
• the developmental goals,
• Criticism
• Third world perspective
• The north south tussle.