1972
In
1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm
brought the industrialized and developing nations together to delineate the
‘rights’ of the human family to a healthy and productive environment. A series
of such meetings followed, e.g. on the rights of people to adequate food, to
sound housing, to safe water, to access to means of family planning. The
recognition to revitalize humanity’s connection with Nature, led to the
creation of global institutions within the UN system.
1980
In 1980, the International Union for
the Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) published the World Conservation
Strategy (WCS) which provided a precursor to the concept of sustainable
development. The Strategy asserted that conservation of nature cannot be
achieved without development to alleviate poverty and misery of hundreds of millions
of people and stressed the interdependence of conservation and development in
which development depends on caring for the Earth. Unless the fertility and
productivity of the planet are safeguarded, the human future is at risk.
1982
Ten years later, at the 48th plenary
of the General Assembly in 1982, the WCS initiative culminated with the
approval of the World Charter for Nature. The Charter stated that "mankind
is a part of nature and life depends on the uninterrupted functioning of
natural systems".
1983
In 1983, the World Commission on
Environment and Development (WCED) was created and, by 1984, it was constituted
as an independent body by the United Nations General Assembly. WCED was asked
to formulate ‘A global agenda for change’. In 1987, in its report Our Common
Future, the WCED advanced the understanding of global interdependence and the
relationship between economics and the environment previously introduced by the
WCS. The report wove together social, economic, cultural and environmental
issues and global solutions. It reaffirmed that "the environment does not
exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs, and
therefore it should not be considered in isolation from human concerns. The
environment is where we all live; and development is what we all do in
attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."
1992
In
June 1992, the first UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was
held in RiodeJaneiro and adopted an agenda for environment and development in
the 21st Century. Agenda 21: A Programme of Action for Sustainable Development
contains the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which recognizes
each nation’s right to pursue social and economic progress and assigned to
States the responsibility of adopting a model of sustainable development; and,
the Statement of Forest Principles. Agreements were also reached on the
Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate
Change. UNCED for the first time mobilized the Major Groups and legitimized
their participation in the sustainable development process. This participation
has remained a constant until today. For the first time also, the lifestyle of
the current civilization was addressed in Principle 8 of the Rio Declaration.
The urgency of a deep change in consumption and production patterns was
expressly and broadly acknowledged by State leaders. Agenda 21 further
reaffirmed that sustainable development was delimited by the integration of the
economic, social and environmental pillars.
The spirit of the conference was
captured by the expression "Harmony with Nature", brought into the
fore with the first principle of the Rio Declaration: "Human beings are at
the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a
healthy and productive life in harmony with nature".
1993
In 1993, UNCED instituted the
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to follow-up on the implementation
of Agenda 21.
1997
In June 1997, the General Assembly
dedicated its 19th Special Session (UNGASS-19) to design a "Programmed for
the Further Implementation of Agenda 21".
2002
In 2002, ten years after the Rio
Declaration, a follow-up conference, the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) was convened in Johannesburg to renew the global commitment
to sustainable development. The conference agreed on the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation (JPOI) and further tasked the CSD to follow-up on the
implementation of sustainable development.
2009
On 24th December 2009 the UN General
Assembly adopted a Resolution agreeing to hold the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in 2012 - also referred to as 'Rio+20' or 'Rio
20'. The Conference seeks three objectives: securing renewed political
commitment to sustainable development, assessing the progress and
implementation gaps in meeting already agreed commitments, and addressing new
and emerging challenges. The Member States have agreed on the following two
themes for the Conference: green economy within the context of sustainable
development and poverty eradication, and institutional framework for
sustainable development
Since UNCED, sustainable development has become part of the
international lexicon. The concept has been incorporated in many UN
declarations and its implementation, while complex has been at the forefront of
world’s institutions and organizations working in the economic, social and
environmental sectors.
The
concept of sustainable development
emerged from the post-War environmental movement, which recognized the negative
impacts of human growth and development on the environment and communities.
Since
publishing the first ever national strategy for sustainable development in
1994, the UK Government has played a lead role in promoting sustainable
development at home and overseas.
1972:
Limits to Growth
Commissioned
by the Club of Rome, Limits to Growth attempts to model the consequences of a
growing human population in a world of finite resources, concluding that
current patterns of growth cannot be sustained indefinitely.
1987: Our
Common Future
The
term sustainable development came to prominence through the United Nations
Brundtland Commission. The commission’s 1987 report, Our Common Future defined sustainable
development as “development which meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
1992: Rio
conference
The
concept received further attention at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the first international attempt to develop
strategies for a more sustainable pattern of development.
Representatives
of 178 national governments, including more than 100 heads of state, and many organizations
representing civil society attended the conference. The world had never previously
witnessed a larger gathering of national leaders.
At
the summit, governments around the world committed to sustainable development.
The UK government was the first to produce its national strategy in 1994.
1999: A
Better Quality of Life
In
1999, the UK government outlined how it proposed to deliver sustainable
development in A Better Quality of Life. This set out a vision of
simultaneously delivering economic, social and environmental outcomes as
measured by a series of headline indicators.
2002: Johannesburg
summit
The World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) took place in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002.
The
summit delivered three outcomes: a political declaration, the Johannesburg Plan
of Implementation and the establishment of numerous partnership
initiatives. Key commitments covered sustainable consumption and production,
water and sanitation, and energy.
The
outcomes complemented the Millennium Development Goals, reinforce Doha and
Monterrey agreements and set challenging global goals and targets on accessing
water, sanitation and modern energy services; increasing energy efficiency and
use of renewable energy; sustainable fisheries and forests; reducing
biodiversity loss on land and in our oceans; chemicals management; and decoupling
environmental degradation from economic growth – that is, achieving sustainable
patterns of consumption and production.
The
UK’s international priorities on sustainable development have principally been
framed by the Millennium Development Goals, the Doha Development Agenda of the
World Trade Organization, the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development
and the Plan of Implementation of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD).
Securing
the Future
2005
saw the publication of Securing the
Future, a revised UK Government strategy for sustainable development.
At
the same time, a strategic framework was agreed by the UK Government and the
devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, providing a
consistent approach and focus across the UK for the period up to 2020.
(Vaibhav rajdeep)
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