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The 1990s and Beyond: International Conferences
At the conference, representatives of 178 governments, 108 of whom were heads
of states of governments, adopted three major agreements aimed at changing the
traditional approach to development that were negotiated over the two and a half
years leading up to the conference and finalized at Rio de Janeiro.
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, a series of 27 `principles'
defining the rights and responsibilities of states, reaffirmed the Declaration of
the UN Conference on the Human Environment adopted at Stockholm in June
1972, and sought to build upon it. The declaration recognized `the integral and
interdependent nature of the Earth', and established the principles, inter alia, that
· `Human beings are the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They
are entitled a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature'.
· `States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the prin-
ciples of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources
pursuant to own their environmental and developmental policies, and the
responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do
not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the
limits of national jurisdiction'.
· `The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet develop-
mental and environmental needs of present and future generations'.
· `In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall
constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered
in isolation to it'.
· `All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating
poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development'.
· `The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least
developed and the most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special
priority'.
· `The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that they must bear
in the international pursuit of sustainable development'.
· `Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific
certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures
to prevent environmental degradation'.
· `Women have a vital role in environmental management and develop-
ment. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable
development'.
Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development, a wide-ranging blue-
print for global action into the twenty-first century to achieve sustainable devel-
opment worldwide into the twenty-first century, consisted of four sections:
· Social and Economic Dimensions;
· Conservation and Management of Resources for Development;
· Strengthening the Roles of Major Groups;
· Means of Implementation.
