David at 09:10, 17 January 2007

2007-01-17T09:10:46Z

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The '''World Summit on Sustainable Development''', WSSD or '''Earth Summit 2002''' took place in [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]], from [[26 August]] to [[4 September]] [[2002]]. It was convened to discuss [[sustainable development]] by the [[United Nations]]. WSSD gathered a number of leaders from business and [[non-governmental organization]]s, 10 years after the first [[Earth Summit]] in Rio de Janeiro. (It was therefore also informally nicknamed "Rio+10".)

==Declarations==
The [[Johannesburg Declaration]] was the main outcome of the Summit; however, there were several other international agreements.
[http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/]

==Agreements==
Johannesburg, [[27 August]]: by 2015 agreement was made to restore the world's depleted fisheries. It was agreed to by negotiators at the World Summit.

But as usual the process proceeded slowly and full of ironies. Protesters outside were having fun, even [[toyi-toyi|dancing]], whilst demanding food, work and a better environment. Annette Cotter said "If the people who were marching today were inside the meeting room representing our planet, there'd be laughter, fun, dancing, and real action."

==Criticism==
The absence of the United States, rendered the summit partially impotent. [[George W. Bush]] boycotted the summit and did not attend. Except for a brief appearance by [[Colin Powell]], who hurriedly addressed the closing stages of the conference whilst his airplane taxied on the run-way of Johannesburg International, ready to take-off, the US government did not send a delegation, earning Bush praise in a letter from conservative, corporate-sponsored organizations such as [[Americans for Tax Reform]], [[American Enterprise Institute]], and [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]].

Earth Summit 2002 attendees have been criticized as being hypocritical for providing expensive catered food and drink for dignitaries while a few miles away there were starving South Africans. The summit organisers have also been criticised by others for excluding a variety of organisations and individuals, particularly those early founders, instrumental in the nations conservation and green history. The summit also excluded critics in the movement who believe the "sustainable development" mantra is being misused in order to [[greenwash]] economic development at the expense of long term environmental goals.

==History==

The United Nations [[Conference on the Human Environment]], was first held in [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]], in June 1972, and marked the emergence of international environmental law. The Declaration on the Human Environment also known as the Stockholm Declaration set out the principles for various international environmental issues, including human rights, natural resource management, pollution prevention and the relationship between the environment and development. The conference also led to the creation of the [[United Nations Environment Programme]].

The [[Brundtland Commission]] set up by [[Gro Harlem Brundtland]], the pioneer of [[sustainable development]], provided the momentum for first [[Earth Summit]] 1992 – the United Nations Conference on Environmental Development (UNCED), that was also headed by Maurice Strong, who had been a prominent member of the Brundtland Commission – and also for [[Agenda 21]].

South Africa's first [[South African National Conference on Environment and Development|National Conference on Environment and Development]] entitled, "Ecologise Politics, Politicise Ecology" was held at the [[University of the Western Cape]] in conjunction with the [[Cape Town Ecology Group]] and the Western Cape Branch of the [[World Conference on Religion and Peace]] in 1991. Prominent persons involved in this conference were [[Ebrahim Rasool]], [[Cheryl Carolus]], Faried Esack, and Julia Martin.

==See also==
* [[United Nations Environment Programme]]
* [[Conference on the Human Environment]]
* [[Earth Summit]]
* [[Cape Town Ecology Group]]

==External links==
*[http://archive.greenpeace.org/earthsummit/index.html Greenpeace Earth Summit Page]
*[http://www.foe.org/international/PR8-15-02.html Friends of the Earth press release on conservative organizations' support of Bush's decision not to attend]
*[http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/ Johannesburg Summit]

==Sources==
* http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/default.asp?DocumentID=97&ArticleID=1496&l=en

World Summit on Sustainable Development - Revision history

David at 09:10, 17 January 2007