Global Environment Outlook 3 (GEO 3)

1 9

INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: 1972–2002

international environmental cooperation. Under the terms of the CCD, activities related to the control and alleviation of desertification and its effects are to be closely linked to the needs and participation of local land users and non- governmental organizations. It employs detailed regional annexes, sometimes more detailed than the core treaty itself, that address the particularities of the desertification problem in specific regions such as Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Northern Mediterranean (Raustiala 2001). The central substantive commitment in the CCD is the obligation to develop ‘national action programmes’, in conjunction with local stakeholders. These programmes delineate the tasks that the parties will undertake to implement the CCD. For example, parties must make the prevention of desertification a priority in national policies and must promote awareness of desertification among their citizens. The establishment of the CSD in December 1992 was a direct outcome of the Summit. Although the goal of sustainable development was established in the 1980s, it was not until Rio that an international body was assigned the mandate to oversee and help the international community achieve this goal (see box). Although this was a major step, the Commission has been criticized for being a weak response to problems of institutional capacity, and has encountered apathy from high-level government ministers (Long 2000). The integration of economic, social and environmental policies — a requirement of sustainable development spelled out by the Brundtland Commission — continues to challenge institutions at all levels. Rio + 5 Five years after UNCED, the international community convened a review summit, known as Rio + 5, in New York where concerns were expressed about the slow implementation of Agenda 21 . The general conclusion was that while some progress had been made in terms of sustainable development, ‘many of the targets of Agenda 21 are a long way from being met’ (UN 1997). The Commission on Sustainable Development

Mandate of the Commission on Sustainable Development

‘Here in the United States, we must do better. With 4 per cent of the world’s population, we produce 20 per cent of its greenhouse gases. So we must do better, and we will.’ — Bill Clinton, President of the United States, Rio + 5, 1997 ‘It is a matter of deep concern to India that five years after Rio, there is a discernible effort to erode the framework for partnership built at Rio — notably the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities — with efforts to prescribe equal obligations and liabilities on unequal players.’ — Professor Saifuddin Soz, Indian Minister of Environment and Forests, Rio + 5, 1997 The CSD, which was established in December 1992 under the UN Economic and Social Council, is composed of 53 members elected for terms of office of three years. The Commission meets annually for a period of two to three weeks, meeting first in June 1993. Broadly, the role of the Commission is to: review progress at the international, regional and national levels in the implementation of recommendations and commitments contained in the final documents of UNCED — Agenda 21 , the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Forest Principles; elaborate policy guidance and options for future activities as a follow-up to UNCED and to achieve sustainable development; and promote dialogue and build partnerships for sustainable development with governments, the international community and the major groups identified in Agenda 21 as key actors outside central government which have a major role to play in the transition towards sustainable development. Source: UN 2001

Other important international conferences

The principles of sustainable development were reaffirmed throughout the 1990s at numerous international conferences such as the: 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna; 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo; 1994 Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States in Bridgetown, Barbados; 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen; 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing;