United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

In 2012 the United Nations will convene the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio 2012 or Rio+20, hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, as a 20-year follow-up to the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that was held in the same city. The conference is organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The decision to hold the conference in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro was made by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/64/236 on 24 December 2009.^[1]

Contents 1 Background 2 Objectives 3 Conference Themes 4 Calendar of Meetings 4.1 1st Preparatory Committee 4.2 1st Intersessional 4.3 2nd Preparatory Committee 4.4 2nd Intersessional 4.5 3rd Intersessional 4.6 3rd Preparatory Committee 4.7 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 5 External links 6 Related Links 7 References

Background

Rio+20 is a key milestone in a series of major United Nations conferences, in which the 1992 Earth Summit / United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was the centerpiece, putting sustainable development as a top priority on the agenda of the United Nations and the international community.

• United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, Sweden, June 1972^[2]
  • Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment^[3]
  • Action Plan for the Human Environment^[4]
• Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, June 1987.^[5]
• United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992
  • Rio Declaration on Environment and Development^[6]
  • Agenda 21^[7]
    • Commission on Sustainable Development, New York, February 1993^[8][9][10]
    • Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, 19th Special Session of the General Assembly, New York, 28 June 1997^[11]
  • Convention on Biological Diversity Rio de Janeiro, 5 June 1992^[12]
  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRio de Janeiro, 1992^[13][14]
• Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, April/May 1994.^[15]
  • Barbados Declaration and Programme of Action^[16]
  • SIDSnet: Small Island Developing States Network ^[17]
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Paris, France, June 1994^[18][19]
• World Summit on Social Development, Copenhagen, Denmark, March 1995^[20]
  • Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development^[21]
  • Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development^[22]
• Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China, September 1995^[23]
  • Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action^[24]
• Habitat II / United Nations Conference on Human Settlements^[25]
  • Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements^[26]
  • The Habitat Agenda^[27]
• World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, August/September 2002^[28]
  • Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development^[29]
  • Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPoI)^[30]

Objectives

The conference has three objectives.

1. Securing renewed political commitment to sustainable development.
2. Assessing the progress and implementation gaps in meeting already agreed commitments.
3. Addressing new and emerging challenges.

Conference Themes

The conference has two themes agreed upon by the member states.

1. Green economy within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.
2. Institutional framework for sustainable development.

Calendar of Meetings

1st Preparatory Committee

Held from 16-18 May 2010 , immediately after the conclusion of the eighteenth session and the first meeting of the nineteenth session of the Commission.

1st Intersessional

Held from January 10–11, 2011 at UN Headquarters, New York, the Intersessional focused on discussion of the objectives of the conference, and its two principle themes. The Intersessional - not a negotiation session - featured panel discussions, from academia, non-governmental organizations as well as Delegates and UN system representatives.

2nd Preparatory Committee

Held from 7-9 March 2011, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, immediately following the Intergovernmental Policy Meeting for the 19th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development.^[31]

2nd Intersessional

Will be held from 15-16 December 2011 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.^[32]

3rd Intersessional

Will be held from 5-7 March 2012 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.^[33]

3rd Preparatory Committee

Will be held from 13-15 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the week immediately before the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.^[34]

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

The conference will be held from 20-22 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

External links

• Official web site for United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: http://www.uncsd2012.org/

Related Links

• Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development
• United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
  • Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
  • Agenda 21

References

1. ^ A/RES/64/236: 64/236. Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development http://www.un-documents.net/ares64-236.pdf
2. ^ Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, A/CONF.48/14/Rev.1, Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972. http://www.un-documents.net/aconf48-14r1.pdf
3. ^ Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, A/CONF.48/14/Rev.1, Chapter I http://www.un-documents.net/unchedec.htm http://www.un-documents.net/unche-dec.pdf
4. ^ Action Plan for the Human Environment, A/CONF.48/14/Rev.1, Chapter II http://www.un-documents.net/aphe.htm http://www.un-documents.net/aphe.pdf
5. ^ Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Annex to A/42/427, Development and International Co-operation: Environment, August 1987. http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm
6. ^ Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, A/CONF.151/26, Resolution 1, Annex II, http://www.un-documents.net/rio-dec.htm
7. ^ Agenda 21, A/CONF.151/26, Resolution 1, Annex II, http://www.un-documents.net/agenda21.htm
8. ^ Institutional arrangements to follow up the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, General Assembly Resolution A/RES/47/191, New York, December 1992 http://www.un-documents.net/a47r191.htm
9. ^ Establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Development, ECOSOC Resolution 1993/207, New York, February 1993 http://www.un-documents.net/1993-207.htm
10. ^ Commission on Sustainable Development web site http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/csd/csd_aboucsd.shtml
11. ^ Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, General Assembly Resolution A/RES/S-19/2 http://www.un-documents.net/s19r2.htm http://www.un-documents.net/ares-s19-2.pdf
12. ^ Convention on Biological Diversity http://www.cbd.int/convention/text/
13. ^ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change. A.AC.237/18 (Part II)/Add.l, Annex I & Corr.1, 15 May 1992. http://www.un-documents.net/unfccc.htm http://www.un-documents.net/unfccc.pdf
14. ^ UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change web site. http://www.unfccc.int
15. ^ Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. A.CONF.167/9, Bridgetown, Barbados, 6 May 1994. http://www.un-documents/aconf167-9.pdf
16. ^ Barbados Declaration and Programme of Action. A.CONF.167/9, Chapter I, Resolution 1. Bridgetown, Barbados, 6 May 1994. http://www.un-documents.net/barbados-declaration-and-programme-of-action.pdf
17. ^ SIDSnet : Small Island Developing States Network web site. http://www.sidsnet.org/
18. ^ Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa . A/AC.241/27, http://www.un-documents.net/a-ac241-27.pdf
19. ^ UNCCD - United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification web site http://www.unccd.int
20. ^ Report of the World Summit on Social Development, A/CONF.166/9, 19 April 1995 http://www.un-documents.net/aconf166-9.pdf
21. ^ Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development A/CONF.166/9, Chapter I, Annex I. http://www.un-documents.net/copenhagen-declaration.pdf
22. ^ Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development. in A/CONF.166/9, Chapter I, Annex II. http://www.un-documents.net/wssd-poa.htm http://www.un-documents.net/wssd-programme-of-action.pdf
23. ^ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, A/CONF.177/20/Rev.1, Beijing, China, September 1995. http://www.un-documents.net/aconf177-20r1.pdf
24. ^ Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, A/CONF.177/20/Rev.1, Chapter I http://www.un-documents.net/beijing-declaration-and-platform-for-action.pdf
25. ^ Report of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), A/CONF.165/14. Istanbul, 3-14 June 1996 http://www.un-documents.net/aconf165-14.pdf
26. ^ Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, A/CONF.165/14, Chapter I, Annex 1. http://www.un-documents.net/ist-dec.htm
27. ^ The Habitat Agenda, A/CONF.165/14, Chapter I, Annex 1. http://www.un-documents.net/hab-ag.htm http://www.un-documents.net/habitat-agenda.pdf Retrieved 7 February 2011
28. ^ Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development , A/CONF.199/20, 4 September 2002 http://www.un-documents.net/aconf199-20.pdf
29. ^ Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development, A/CONF.199/20, Chapter I, Resolution 1, Annex. http://www.un-documents.net/jburgdec.htm http://www.un-documents.net/johannesburg-declaration.pdf
30. ^ Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, in A/CONF.199/20, Chapter I, Resolution 2, Annex. Annex. http://www.un-documents.net/jburgpln.htm http://www.un-documents.net/jpoi.pdf http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POIToc.htm
31. ^ Preparatory Commission Meetings, UNCSD 2012 http://www.uncsd2012.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=72&Itemid=123 Retrieved 2 February 2011
32. ^ 2nd Intersessional Meeting,UNCSD http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=13&nr=42&menu=46
33. ^ 3rd Intersessional Meeting, UNCSD http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=13&nr=46&menu=46
34. ^ 3rd Preparatory Committee, UNCSD http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=13&nr=49&menu=46