International Environmental Law and Policy - Chapter Four. Changing Behavior to Respond to Environmental Limits

Chapter Four: A Brief History From Stockholm to Rio

I. Introduction

Path to Johannesburg - an interactive web timeline by WorldWatch tracing the history of the modern environmental movement

The Legacy of Rio - an article by Christopher Flavin, asserting that the world is falling short of achieving an environmentally sustainable global economy five years after the historic UN Conference on Environment and Development

II. The Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment

A. The Road to Stockholm

Group of 77 - the largest Third World coalition in the United Nations, provides the means for the developing world to articulate and promote its collective economic interests and enhance its joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues in the United Nations system

B. At Stockholm

Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972) - the Stockholm Declaration, considering the need for a common outlook and for common principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment: Action Plan for the Human Environment (1972) - providing for actions including the global environmental assessment program (Earthwatch), environmental management activities and international measures to support the national and international actions of assessment and management

III. From Stockholm to Rio: The Emergence of Sustainable Development

. Our Common Future and Sustainable Development

Our Common Future - describes the introduction of the World Commission on Environment and Development report, calling the UN General Assembly to transform this report into a UN Programme on Sustainable Development
WETV - a specialty television network delivered via satellite with programming designed to explore key issues of our common future and promote sustainable development

IV. UNCED and the Rio Declaration

A. The Context of Rio

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development: A/RES/44/228 - deciding to convene and guiding the preparation of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

B. At the Earth Summit

Earth Negotiations Bulletin During UNCED - provides bulletins of each day of the Conference

C. The Rio Declaration

Rio Declaration on Environment and Development - establishing an equitable global partnership through the creation of new levels of cooperation among States, key sectors of sociieties and people in working towards international agreements to protect the global environment and the developmental system
People's Earth Declaration: A Proactive Agenda for the Future - treaty prepared at the International NGO Forum in Rio de Janeiro dealing with issues ranging from environmental concerns and how NGOs can better cooperate with one another to how to shape relations with other social sectors

D. Agenda 21

All Agenda 21 Issues - provides overviews and updates in the major issues covered under Agenda 21. From the UN Division for Sustainable Development.
Agenda 21 - providing the full text of Agenda 21 and other UNCED Agreements
Overview of Agenda 21 - stating that Agenda 21 is a guide for individuals, businesses and governments in making choices for less environmentally destructive developments, and a challenge to translate understanding into action in developing sustainable lifestyles
The Earth Council - an international non-governmental organization (NGO) promoting and advancing the implementation of the Earth Summit agreements
National Councils for Sustainable Development - since 1992, some 70 countries have established some form of a multi-stakeholder participatory body to promote sustainable development at the national level
The Hague Local Agenda Homepage - developing an action program to establish a sustainable city
Community-Level Implementation of Agenda 21 in Jinja, Uganda - stating that Jinja's two-year Local Agenda 21 (LA21) project began with a commitment to prepare and evaluate a local action plan
Local Agenda 21 Plan for Lancashire County, United Kingdom - linking with the national and regional strategies that have been developed but will be developed through a "bottom-up" process of discussion and learning about issues that concern and affect local communities in the County

V. The Post-Rio Era

A. Sustainable Development After Rio

United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development - provides links to information on Agenda 21, UN Commission on Sustainable Development, small island developing states, forests, national information, major groups and technical cooperation

Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) - monitors and reports on implementation of the Earth Summit agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels

Bulletins by International Institute for Sustainable Development on CSD Activities - provides linkages coverage of the CSD Ad Hoc Working Groups as well as meeting information

Linkages: A Multimedia Resource for Environment and Development Policy Makers - provides a subscription service for online journals such as Earth Negotiations Bulletin (in English and in French), /linkages/journal/ and Sustainable Developments

Cities: Our Common Future - a speech by UNEP head, Klaus Topfer, explaining how urban conditions will shape humanity's future and suggests practical ways of making cities sustainable
The National Centre for Sustainability - a Canadian organization whose mission is to educate people of all walks of life for sustainability

B. Rio + ... and Counting

Earth Summit Two (Rio Plus Five) - provides a clearinghouse for information relating to Earth Summit Two and the work of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
Earth Summit Watch - a citizens' initiative to monitor and encourage actions by each national government to implement the promises made in Rio to move toward sustainable development