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Defining
sustainable development has been a challenging task.
The
term 'sustainable development' was popularized by the
World
Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in its
1987 report entitled Our Common Future.
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Our
Common Future - the resulting publication from the Commission's
work - was written after three years of public hearings and
over five hundred written submissions. Commissioners from twenty
one countries analyzed the materials, and the final report being
submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in 1987. The
Commission generated this definition. |
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There
are also other
definitions
of sustainable development. In fact, there are several hundred
definitions of sustainable development, each taking a different
slant on the same issues. |
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Important Issues
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Our Common
Future reported on many important issues related to sustainable
development, and recommended urgent coordinated action on
key issues to ensure that development was sustainable. These
are: |
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Food
Security |
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Urbanization |
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Population
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Energy |
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Biodiveristy |
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Industrialization |
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The
Global Commons |
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These issues - and many others like them - were discussed at the UN
Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, in June 1992. Known as the Earth Summit, the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development brought together
108 Heads of State. We all know too well that they negotiated
and agreed to a global action plan for sustainable development
which they called Agenda
21 |
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In
addition, new global treaties - on climate
change, biological
diversity, desertification
and high-seas
fishing - were signed in the official sessions. Further,
a United Nations
Commission on Sustainable Development was established to
monitor the implementation of these agreements and to act as
a forum for ongoing negotiation of international policies on
environment and development. |
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Agenda
21 has provided a basis for action.
At the local government level, nearly 2000 towns and cities
worldwide have created their own Local Agenda 21 plans. Learn
more. |
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Sustainable
Human Development
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The
Earth Summit led the way for a number of large conferences based
around certain themes. More than anything, these conferences
highlight how the issues are linked. These actions have led to
a comprehensive development framework that takes a holistic
approach to development, called "sustainable human development". Some of the more
prominent
conferences were:
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Human
Rights - World
Conference on Human Rights - Vienna, Austria, 1993 |
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Population
- International
Conference on Population and Development - Cairo, Egypt,
1994 |
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Social
Development - World
Summit for Social Development - Copenhagen, Denmark, 1995 |
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Women
- Fourth World
Conference on Women - Beijing, People's Republic of China,
1995 |
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Housing and Settlements - Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) - Istanbul, Turkey, 1996
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Food Security - World Food Summit - Rome, Italy 1996
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These
actions have led to a Comprehensive
Development Framework that takes a holistic approach to
development. You can review
answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Framework
and see details
of projects in eleven countries.
Importantly,
there are said to be various dimensions and
dynamics
of sustainable development.
Click the Next button to read more.
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