MAY 2012 Home Subscribe Archive Contact Thematic Focus: Environmental Governance Keeping Track of Our Changing Environment—From Rio to Rio +20 (1992-2012)

popularly known as the Rio Earth Summit, was convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to address the state of the environment and sustainable development. The Earth Summit yielded several important agreements including "Agenda 21", a plan of action adopted by over 178 governments to address human impacts on the environment at local, national and global levels, and key treaties on climate change, desertification and biodiversity. At the second Conference in 2002—the World Summit on Sustainable Development—governments agreed on the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, reaffirming their commitment to Agenda 21. In 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20 Earth Summit, will focus on the Green Economy in the context of sustainable development, poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development. The object is to renew political commitment to sustainable development, review progress and identify implementation gaps, and address new and emerging challenges. Why is this issue important? This article, and a related publication called "Keeping Track of Our Changing Environment " (UNEP 2011), serve as a timely update on what has occurred since the Earth Summit of 1992 and ar