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Index
Sr, no Contents Page no.
1. Introduction 3
2. History 3
3. Issues 3
4. Earth summit result in 3-6
following documents.
5. Principle27 6-11
6. Conclusion 12
7. References. 12
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Introduction
The United Nation Conference on environment and development also known as the earth
summit was a major united nation conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 rd to 14th June, 1992
wherein more than 150 governments participated. This was the largest UN conference ever held
and it put the world on a path of sustainable development which aims at meeting the needs of the
parents without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The
earth summit forced the people worldwide to rethink how their lives affect natural environment
and resources and to confront a new environment that determines the surroundings in which they
live. In 2012 the United nation conference on sustainable development was also held in rio and
is only commonly called rio or rio earth summit 2012.172 govt. participated, with 116 sending
their heads or govt. some 2400 representative of non- governmental organizations attend with
17000 people at the parallel NGO global form who had consultative status. the global situation
has worsened since then. Not only are natural resources being depleted and environmental
degradation increased, but in many parts of the South poverty has worsened. The external debt
crisis of most Southern countries remains unresolved, and is deepening in many cases. Structural
adjustment policies imposed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have
intensified since the early 1980s, bringing with them further economic, social and environmental
upheavals. Transnational corporations have further extended their web over the natural
resources, economies and lives of the South.

History
United nation conference on the human environment 1972 Sweden, Stockholm. The Stockholm
conference secured a permanent place for the environment on the world agenda and led to the
establishment of United Nations environment program.

 1978 great lakes water quality agreement

 1985 Helsinki agreement
 1988 Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer
 1989 Basel convention on Trans boundary movements of hazardous wastes.

Issues
 Systematic scrutiny of patterns of production –particularly the production of toxic
components such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals.
 Alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global
climate change.
 New reliance on public transportation system in order to reduce vehicle emissions
congestion in cities and the health problems caused by polluted air and smoke.
 The growing scarcity of water.

The Earth summits resulted in following documents

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 Convention on biological diversity

 United nationsFramework convention on climate change (UNFCCC)
 United nations Convention to combat desertification
 Rio declaration on environment and development
 Agenda 21
 Forest Principles

Convention on biological diversity

 The Conservation of biological diversity. The sustainable use of its components and the
fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic
resources, including by appropriate access to genetic and by the appropriate transfer of
relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to
technologies and by appropriate funding.
 Developed a global strategy with guidelines for action by international, national and
local governments and institutions to save understand and use biodiversity sustainably
and equitably
 The us was the only attending country not to sign the biodiversity treaty.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

 Lead to the implementation of Kyoto protocol
 Stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
 To ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to
proceed in a sustainable manner.
 The key elements of the convention are new and additional financial resources to meet
convention goals promotion of transfer of technology to developing countries and an
institutional mechanism to enable the international community to manage the climate
change problem over the long term working with the inter-governmental panel on climate
change.
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United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification

 To combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action
programs that incorporate long term strategies supported by international cooperation
and partnership arrangements.
 It is the first and only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the
problem of desertification. The convention is based on the principles of participation,
partnership and decentralization the backbone of good governance and sustainable
development.

Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

 The Rio declaration consisted of 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable
development around the world.
 These principles define the right of people to development and their responsibilities to
safeguard common environment. They build on ideas from the Stockholm
development at the1972 United Nations conference on the human environment.
 The rio declaration states that the only way to have long term economic progress is to
link it with environmental protection.
 This will only happen if nations establish a new and equitable global partnership
involving governments, their people and key sectors of societies they must build
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international agreements that protect the integrity of the global environmental and the
developmental system.

Principle
 Principle
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable
development. They are entitling to a healthy and productive life in
harmony with nature.
The G77 and China formulation stated that Human beings are at the centre
of environmental and developmental concerns this was to emphasize that
ensuring the well-being of people is fundamental in any country, and the
protection of the environment must be consistent with meeting the needs of
human beings. It was argued that this is not contradictory to environmental
concerns because a healthy environment is necessary to ensure the well-
being of people. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.

 Principle
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles
of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to
their own 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 North was not in favour of bringing in the sovereignty issue, but the G77 and
China succeeded in including this. Many Northern delegations were concerned that
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the responsibility of states towards the environment would be diluted if

developmental policies were included.

 Principle
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental
and environmental needs of present and future generations
The right to development is a principle which the South regarded as among the most
basic principles for the Declaration

 Principle
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall
constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in
isolation from it.
The last phrase cannot be considered in isolation from it was resisted by the North
on the ground that environmental concerns will be made subject to developmental
priorities. The G77 and China position was that in taking steps to protect the
environment, the development issue had to be considered at the same time.

 Principle
All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty
as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease
the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the
people of the world

 Principle
The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least
developed and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special
priority. International actions in the field of environment and development should
also address the interests and needs of all countries

 Principle
States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and
restore the health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem. In view of the different
contributions to global environmental degradation, States have common but
differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the
responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development
in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the
technologies and financial resources they command

 Principle
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States
should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption
and promote appropriate demographic policies
States and people should ask to eliminate or reduce unsustainable patterns of
production and consumption, and to slow rapid population growth.

 Principle
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States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable

development by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific
and technological knowledge, and by enhancing the development, adaptation,
diffusion and transfer of technologies; including new and innovative technologies
Endogenous capacity is a very important issue for the South. It was totally rejected
by the developed countries at first. The resistance by some countries was the
avoidance of any implication that they may be committed to transfer technology on
preferential or concessional terms.

 Principle
Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned
citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have
appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public
authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their
communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States
shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making
information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative
proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.

 Principle
States shall enact effective environmental legislation. Environmental standards,
management objectives and priorities should reflect the environmental and
developmental context to which they apply. Standards applied by some countries
may be inappropriate and of unwarranted economic and social cost to other
countries, in particular developing countries.

 Principle
States should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international economic
system that would lead to economic growth and sustainable development in all
countries, to better address the problems of environmental degradation. Trade policy
measures for environmental purposes should not constitute a means of arbitrary or
unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade.
Unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of
the importing country should be avoided. Environmental measures addressing trans
boundary or global environmental problems should, as far as possible, be based on
an international consensus.

 Principle
States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for the
victims of pollution and other environmental damage. States shall also cooperate in
an expeditious and more determined manner to develop further international law
regarding liability and compensation for adverse effects of environmental damage
caused by activities within their jurisdiction or control to areas beyond their
jurisdiction

 Principle
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States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent the relocation and

transfer to other States of any activities and substances that cause severe
environmental degradation or are found to be harmful to human health.

 Principle
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely
applied by States according to their capabilities. 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.

 Principle
National authorities should endeavor to promote the internalization of environmental
costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the
polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public
interest and without distorting international trade and investment.

 Principle
Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for
proposed activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the
environment and are subject to a decision of a competent national authority

 Principle
States shall immediately notify other States of any natural disasters or other
emergencies that are likely to produce sudden harmful effects on the environment of
those States. Every effort shall be made by the international community to help
States so afflicted.

 Principle
States shall provide prior and timely notification and relevant information to
potentially affected States on activities that may have a significant adverse trans
boundary environmental effect and shall consult with those States at an early stage
and in good faith

 Principle
Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full
participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.

 Principle
The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world should be mobilized to
forge a global partnership in order to achieve sustainable development and ensure a
better future for all.

 Principle
Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have a vital
role in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and
traditional practices. States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture
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and interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement of

sustainable development.

 Principle
The environment and natural resources of people under oppression, domination and
occupation shall be protected.
Policies promoting or perpetuating apartheid, racial segregation discrimination,
colonial and other forms of oppression and foreign domination stand condemned
and must be eliminated. The environment and natural resources of people under
such oppression, domination and occupation shall be protected.

 Principle
Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development. States shall therefore
respect international law providing protection for the environment in times of armed
conflict and cooperate in its further development, as necessary.

 Principle
Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and
indivisible. The G77 and China wanted to include the word peace on the basis that
developed countries should work towards peace and security for development and
environmental protection, reviving the peace dividend argument.

 Principle
States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by appropriate
means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

 Principle
States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership in the
fulfillment of the principles embodied in this Declaration and in the further
development of international law in the field of sustainable development.
.International law in the field of sustainable development” means, and negotiators
did not get to discuss this further as the negotiations had come to an end, and there
were no objections raised.

Agenda 21
 A non-binding, voluntarily implemented action plan of the united nations with
regard to sustainable development
 A 300 Pages document divided into 40 chapters that have been grouped into 4
sections
 Sections1:- Social and Economic dimensions is directed toward combating poverty
especially in developing countries, changing consumptions patterns, promoting
health achieving a more sustainable population and sustainable settlement in
decision making.
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 Sections2 :- Conservation and management of resources for development includes

atmospheric protection combating protecting fragile environment conservation of
biodiversity, control of pollution and the management of biotechnology.
 Sections3.:- Strengthening the role of major groups includes the roles of children
and youth women NGO Local authorities and workers.
 Sections4:- Means of implementation includes science, technology transfer
education and financial mechanisms.

Forest Principle
 The informal name given to the non-legally binding authoritative statement of
principle for global consensus on the management conservation and sustainable
development of all types of forest.
 The Montreal process also known as the working group on criteria and indicators
for the conservations and sustainable development of temperate and boreal forest
was started in1994 as a result of the forest principles.
 Forestry issue and opportunities should be examined in a holistic and balance
manner.
 Forest are essential to economic development and the maintenance of all forms of
life.
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Conclusions
In this conclusion certainly much more went on at the Earth Summit than can be summarized in
the antiseptic black marks that comprise the concrete work product from UNCED, including the
Rio Declaration. But at the same time a close reading of those texts provides considerable
evidence of the conference's mood, as well as of the larger, long-term significance of the Earth
Summit From this point of view, the Rio Declaration may also have less impact than other
instruments resulting from the Earth Summit. The United Nations created the Commission on
Sustainable Development' specifically to oversee follow-up to Agenda 21, the action plan for the
future adopted at UNCED. The two major conventions opened for signature at Rio anticipate
further international action through periodic meetings of the parties to those conventions."' These
features suggest a view of the two conventions and Agenda 21 as organic instruments, whose
texts are merely starting points for an ongoing process of evolution and maturation.

References
 https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1901&context=lsfp
 https://www.jus.uio.no/lm/environmental.development.rio.declaration.1992/portrait.a4.pd
f
 https://www.slideshare.net/VandanaDhoundiyal/rio-declaration
 https://www.twn.my/title/end/pdf/end12.pdf