Important Websites
ever heard of the earth summit?
The first Earth Summit was held almost 20 years ago. It was a gathering of 170 governments and 2400 representatives from civil society – more than 17,000 people come together to discuss creating a sustainable future. It was the first of its kind: the UN Conference on Environment and Development.
Held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, delegates created a vision of a sustainable world, and developed key documents that outlined what steps needed to be taken to attain it: Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Forest Principles, the Convention on Drought and Desertification,and the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The formation of the UNFCCC was an important achievement, which led to the development of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Earth Summit also established the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). Functioning under ECOSOC, its mandate was to monitor international treaties on the environment, provide policy direction, and coordinate action within the United Nations system to achieve the goals of Agenda 21 annually.
Now, 20 years have gone by and it is time to reflect on the progress we've made and the work that still needs to be done. welcome to Rio+20.
At the end of June 2012, Rio+20 will take place in Brazil.
There are some key objectives; securing political commitment, assessing progress, and discussing new and emerging challenges. But it is so much more than that. It is an exciting opportunity. It is our chance to actively voice how the world should be. It is your vision, your future, your energy, your possibility.
Rio+20 is you.
There are two main themes being discussed: the Green Economy and an Institutional Framework for sustainable development. We will be developing new policy to shape our future, and your voice will be represented.
We need you to take action.
The ways to get involved in Rio+20 are limitless. You will need to be proactive, creative, you will need to have vision and work in a spirit of collaboration. If you have ideas, we want to hear them. If you have opinions, we want to record them. We have teams working in different areas to ensure we represent the voice of children and youth and we invite you to be part of this process.