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In 1992, more than 100 heads of state met in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil for the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED). The Earth Summit, as UNCED was also known, was
convened to address urgent problems of environmental protection and
socio-economic development. The assembled leaders signed the Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological
Diversity; endorsed the Rio Declaration and the Forest Principles; and
adopted Agenda 21, a 300-page plan for achieving sustainable
development in the 21st century. The United Nations Commission on
Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in December 1992 to ensure
effective follow-up of UNCED; to monitor and report on implementation
of the Earth Summit agreements at the local, national, regional and
international levels. The CSD is a functional commission of the UN
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with 53 members. A five-year
review of Earth Summit progress took place in 1997 by the United
Nations General Assembly meeting in special session, followed in 2002
by a ten-year review by the World Summit on Sustainable
Development.
Earth Summit + 5: The Special Session of the General
Assembly held in June 1997 adopted a comprehensive document entitled
Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 prepared by the
Commission on Sustainable Development. It also adopted the programme of
work of the Commission for 1998-2002.
The 10th session of the CSD in 2001 acted as
the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 10-year review process of
Agenda 21. A total of four PrepComs, including a last one at a
Ministerial level, held in Bali, Indonesia, paved the way to the World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South
Africa, 26 August-4 September 2002. Over 22,000 people attended
the Summit, including 100 heads of State and Government. Around
10,000 delegates, 8,000 representatives of Major Groups and 4,000 media
were accredited to the Summit in Johannesburg.
The Summit reiterated the initial mandate and functions
of the CSD as a high level forum on sustainable development, and
deliberated to enhance its role so that it can respond to the new
demands emerged from the WSSD Plan of Implementation.
At the 11th Session of the CSD (CSD-11,
held in New York from 28 April-9 May 2003), decisions were made on the
Commission's future programme and organization of work. It was
agreed that the CSD's multi-year programme of work beyond 2003 would be
organized on the basis of seven two-year cycles, with each cycle
focusing on selected thematic clusters of issues.
More information about the CSD
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