INTRODUCTION:
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio 2012, Rio+20 or “Earth Summit 2012” was the third international conference on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals of the global community. Hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro from 13 to 22 June 2012, Rio+20 was a 20-year follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit / United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in the same city, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.
Objectives:
The conference had three objectives:
- Securing renewed political commitment for sustainable development.
- Assessing the progress and implementation gaps in meeting previous commitments.
- Addressing new and emerging challenges.
Issues Addresses:
- Systematic scrutiny of patterns of production -particularly the production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals
- Alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate change
- New reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health problems caused by polluted air and smoke
- Growing scarcity of water.
