The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development came to know as Earth Summit due to its worldwide participation. It was a major United Nations conference in the history in UN, held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. 172 governments participated, with 108 sending their heads of state or government.Some 2,400 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also attended the conference. Green Cross International is an environmental organisation founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993, building upon the work started by Earth summit of 1992. Earth Summit 2002 "Rio+10" was held in Johannesburg. In 2012, Rio will again host the next summit,Rio+20 as a 20-year follow-up to the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).
Issues discussed
1. Systematic scrutiny of patterns of production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals.
2. Alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate change.
3. 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.
4. The growing scarcity of water.
The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents
1. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development : It consisted of 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable development around the world.
2. Agenda 21 : It is a comprehensive blueprint of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the UN, governments, and major groups in every area in which humans directly affect the environment. The number 21 refers to an agenda for the 21st century.
3. Forest Principles : It is the informal name given to the "Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests.
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.
0 comments: