Earth Summit

Dr. Gargi Chakrabarti

 History of Earth Summit
• The “World Conservation Strategy—Living Resource Conservation for
Sustainable Development” (WCS) was published in 1980. The WCS advanced
already the idea of sustainable development.
• In 1982, the ‘Stockholm plus ten’ conference in Nairobi proposed to establish
the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) and convened
to develop long-term environmental strategies for achieving SD.
• In 1987, these efforts converged into the publication of the famous report “Our
common future“, also known as the ‘Brundtland Report’.
• The Brundtland Report serves as a vital milestone in current development
thinking for at least four reasons: (1) it launched a famous definition of
sustainable development; (2) it established sustainable development as a
substantial component of international development thinking and practice; (3) it
initiated an explosion of work on the theme; and (4) it represents the worldwide
breakthrough and popularization of the sustainability concept.
• Following the publication of the Brundtland Report and the Hague Declaration
on the Environment (1989), the UN General Assembly decided to convene for
the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED or the ‘Earth
Summit’ or ‘Rio Summit’)
• The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit,
took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 2-14, 1992. It
was held twenty years after the United Nations
Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) took
place in Stockholm, Sweden.
• The world at Rio was, of course, very different from the
world at Stockholm. In the intervening two decades, the
Cold War (the defining political framework at UNCHE) had
disappeared, the level of public interest in the
environment was greatly increased, environmental issues
such as stratospheric ozone depletion and global climate
change were now squarely on the global policy map,
and energy had become a major concern for economic
security in the aftermath of the oil price shocks of 1973–74
and 1980–81.
• Results
• The results of the UNCED included the Rio Declaration
enunciating 27 principles of environment and
development, Agenda 21, and a Statement of principles for
the Sustainable Management of Forests, which were all
adopted by consensus (without vote) by the conference.
The institutional innovation resulting from the conference
included an agreement on the operating rules for the
Global Environmental Facility (GEF),United Nations
Convention on Biological Diversity, and the establishment
of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) on the basis of an Agenda 21
recommendation. The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and United
Nations Convention on Biological Diversity were products
of independent, but concurrent, negotiating processes that
were opened for signatures at UNCED.
• Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
• The Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development is a set of 27 legally non-binding
principles designed to commit governments to
ensure environmental protection and responsible
development and intended to be an Environmental
Bill of Rights, defining the rights of people to
development, and their responsibilities to safeguard
the common environment. It established the
"Precautionary principle" and the principle of
"common but differentiated responsibilities". The
Declaration recognizes that the only way to have
long-term social and economic progress is to link it
with environmental protection and to establish
equitable global partnerships between governments
and key actors of civil society and the business
sector.
• The Declaration includes many progressive approaches
such as the polluter pays principle (the polluter bears the
costs of pollution) and the precautionary principle (carry
out environmental assessments to identify adverse
impacts and eliminate any potential harms from a project
before it is started). It advocates that today's development
shall not undermine the resource base of future
generations and that developed countries bear a special
responsibility due to the pressure their societies place on
the global environment and the technologies and financial
resources they command. Strong environmental policies
are inevitable but should not be used as an unjustifiable
means of restricting international trade and shutting off
the Northern markets for Southern countries. However,
nations shall eradicate unsustainable patterns of
production and consumption.
• The earlier title "Earth Charter" was later
appropriately downgraded as its contents were
watered down and negotiated away. Effectively,
its 27 principles are almost all weaker than the
equivalent document signed in Stockholm 20
years earlier. The original idea of establishing an
Earth Charter has not been forgotten but taken
forward by the an independent NGO body, the
Earth Charter Initiative.
• Agenda 21
• Agenda 21, the international plan of action to
sustainable development, outlines key policies for
achieving sustainable development that meets the
needs of the poor and recognizes the limits of
development to meet global needs. Agenda 21 has
become the blueprint for sustainability and forms
the basis for sustainable development strategies. It
attempts to define a balance between production,
consumption, population, development, and the
Earth's life-supporting capacity. It addresses
poverty, excessive consumption, health and
education, cities and agriculture; food and natural
resource management and several more subjects.
• Its 40 chapters are broken up into four sections:
• Social and economic dimensions: developing countries;
poverty; consumption patterns; population; health; human
settlements; integrating environment and development.
• Conservation and management of resources: atmosphere;
land; forests; deserts; mountains; agriculture; biodiversity;
biotechnology; oceans; fresh water; toxic chemicals;
hazardous, radioactive and solid waste and sewage.
• Strengthening the role of major groups: women; children
and youth; indigenous peoples; non-governmental
organizations; local authorities; workers; business and
industry; farmers; scientists and technologists.
• Means of implementation: finance; technology transfer;
science; education; capacity-building; international
institutions; legal measures; information.
 Statement of principles for the Sustainable
Management of Forests

• The Statement of Forest Principles was the

first global agreement concerning
sustainability of forest management. Although
it was not a legally binding contract, all
signatories are expected to practice
reforestation and forest conservation; they
were also to develop programs to find
economic and social substitutions for forestry.
 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity

• The United Nations Convention on Biological

Diversity was signed by 154 member countries.
The main objectives of the convention were to
conserve biological species, genetic
resources, habitats, and ecosystems; to ensure
the sustainable use of biological materials; and to
guarantee the fair and equitable sharing of
benefits derived from genetic resources. It was
conceived as a practical tool for translating the
principles of Agenda 21 into reality.
 United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aims
to "achieve … stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere
at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system."
It was signed by more than 180 governments and promotes the principles of
common but differentiated responsibility and precautionary action.

• The Convention divides countries into two groups: those who are listed in
Annex 1 of the Convention and those who are not (known as 'non-Annex 1
Parties'). Annex 1 Parties are the industrialized countries, who have historically
contributed the most to climate change. For example, North America and the
European Union are jointly responsible for 85 percent of the human-made
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today. The UNFCCC established leading roles
for industrialized countries in curbing global warming and required them assist
developing countries to avoid the negative effects of climate change and to
allow adaptation. UNFCCC called on Annex-1 Parties to stabilise their
greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000.
 United Nations Commission on Sustainable
Development

• The United Nations Commission on Sustainable

Development (CSD) was established by the UN General
Assembly in December 1992 to ensure effective follow-
up of UNCED. It is responsible for reviewing progress in
the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development, as well
as providing policy guidance to follow up the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) at the
local, national, regional and international levels. The
JPOI reaffirmed that the CSD is the high-level forum for
sustainable development within the United Nations
system.
 What is Rio+20?

• Rio+20 - the short name for the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in
June 2012 - is an historic opportunity to define pathways to a safer,
more equitable, cleaner, greener and more prosperous world for
all.
• Twenty years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, where countries
adopted Agenda 21 - a blueprint to rethink economic growth,
advance social equity and ensure environmental protection - the
UN is again bringing together governments, international
institutions and major groups to agree on a range of smart
measures that can reduce poverty while promoting decent jobs,
clean energy and a more sustainable and fair use of resources.
• Rio+20 is a chance to move away from business-as-usual and to act
to end poverty, address environmental destruction and build a
bridge to the future.
 Issues discussed
• Rio+20 was one of the biggest international gatherings of 2012, and
the largest event in the history of the United Nations. It presented an
opportunity to re-direct and re-energise political commitment to the
three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth,
social improvement and environmental protection.
• The main three objectives of the Rio+20 Conference were: 1. to
secure renewed political commitment for sustainable
development, 2. to assess the progress to date and the
remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the
major summits on sustainable development, and 3. to address
new and emerging challenges.
• Rio+20 focused on two themes: (i) A Green economy in the context of
sustainable development and poverty eradication and (ii) The
institutional framework for sustainable development.
• It resulted in a focused political outcome document which contains clear
and practical measures for implementing sustainable development.
• In Rio, Member States decided to launch a process to develop a set
of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)and converge with the post
2015 development agenda.
• The Conference also adopted ground-breaking guidelines on green
economy policies. Governments also agreed to strengthen the UNEP, and
agreed to establish a high-level political forum for sustainable
development
• Governments also adopted the 10-year framework of programmes on
sustainable consumption and production patterns
• The Conference also took forward-looking decisions on a number
of thematic areas, including energy, food security, oceans, cities
• The Rio +20 Conference also galvanized the attention of thousands of
representatives of the UN system and major groups. It resulted in over
700 voluntary commitments and witnessed the formation of
new partnerships to advance sustainable development
Seven Critical Issues
 Green Economy
• UNEP defined Green Economy as an economy that results in “improved
human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental
risks and ecological scarcities”; therefore, an economy that is “low-carbon,
resource efficient, and socially inclusive”.
• The key aim for a transition to a green economy is to enable economic growth
and investment while increasing environmental quality and social
inclusiveness” .
• Some critical issues with regard to the before mentioned aspects would then
be how to: (a) to create the conditions for public and private investments to
incorporate broader environmental and social criteria; (b) to adjust the main
indicators of economic performance (such as growth in GDP) in order to
account for pollution, resource depletion, declining ecosystem services, and
the distributional consequences of natural capital loss to the poor.
• Additionally, the green economy has to take care of the three pillars of
sustainability (environmental protection, social equity and economic
development) as being a tool for sustainable development and not its
substitute. Nevertheless, apart from achieving a balanced approach on the
three pillars of SD poverty eradication should be kept as a primary objective.
 Institutional Framework for
Sustainable Development (IFSD)
• The second theme of the conference builds on the mandate of the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) that was the outcome
document of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in
Johannesburg in 2002.
• Chapter XI of the JPOI addresses the necessity to strengthen the Institutional
Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD).
• Precisely, in paragraph 137 the JPOI affirms: “An effective institutional
framework for sustainable development at all levels is key to the full
implementation of Agenda 21, the follow-up to the outcomes of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development and meeting emerging sustainable
development challenges. (…) It should be responsive to the needs of all
countries, taking into account the specific needs of developing countries
including the means of implementation. It should lead to the strengthening
of international bodies and organizations dealing with sustainable
development, while respecting their existing mandates, as well as to the
strengthening of relevant regional, national and local institutions.”
 Discussion for IFSD
• 1. Linkages among the three pillars: three main options received most
consensus: a. strengthening CSD, b. adjusting the mandate of ECOSOC,
and c. establishing a Sustainable Development Council, that received
the most “heightened interest (…) by all groups of countries”;
• 2. Strengthening UNEP: again consensus was registered and,
especially, the “willingness by all groups of countries to explore the
question of a specialized agency status”;
• 3. Delivering as One: while recognising “the need to balance a top
down approach to sustainable development with a bottom up
approach based on the expressed needs of countries”, special
attention was devoted “to enhance the coherence of international
support to national sustainable development plans”;
• 4. Science-Policy Interface: reaffirming the “need to strengthen the
linkages between science and policy”, the “idea of an Inter-
governmental Panel on Sustainable Development (IPSD), along the lines
of the IPCC” was put forward;
• 5. Financing: discussions were mainly directed to: (a) a dedicated fund
for sustainable development, (b) an adequate and additional finance
needed for implementation and, (c) the use of innovative sources of
financing to complement ODA.
• 6. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): although not easy to converge
upon, it was felt that future agreement on SDGs development might be
found;
• 7. National Level Institutions: consensus was found on the need for
“more systematic mainstreaming of a sustainable development
perspective into the work of the key economic ministries”;
• 8. Involving non-State Actors: convergence was found on the need to
support “the engagement between governments and non-State actors
(…) as a means of strengthening both decision making and
implementation of sustainable development.”
 Eye on Earth Summit 2015
Informed Decision Making for Sustainable
Development
• The Summit addressed the profound impact that rapid
economic and industrial development is having on natural
resources, biodiversity and consumption patterns around
the world.
• These global challenges require international collaborative
action to find transformative solutions that span political
boundaries and help secure a sustainable future for all.
• One of the critical first steps – and the focus of Eye on
Earth Summit 2015 - is to address the need for evidence-
based decision-making that can benefit from the available
wealth of scientific data, information and knowledge if they
are made more accessible to all.
• Summit was overseen by the Eye on Earth Alliance, a collaboration of five
core organizations, namely EAD’s Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data
Initiative (AGEDI), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Group on
Earth Observations (GEO), the International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), and many partners.
• Summit discuss across three themes, data demand, data supply, and
enabling activities.