June 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. This conference, often simply called the Earth Summit or the Rio Conference, was hailed as the beginning of a new future for international environmental regulation and cooperation.
20 years later, how did the ideas and promises of the conference play out? The Journal of Environment and Development tackles this idea with its special anniversary issue “From Rio 1992 to Rio 2012 and Beyond: Taking Stock and Moving Forward in the Search for Sustainable Development.” Fifteen short editorials from numerous authors in the field address what the conference meant, what we learned, and what challenges we face in the future.
The Journal of Environment and Development is edited here at UCSB with the help of graduate students from several departments, including Geography. The long-time Editor is Raymond Clemencon, a senior lecturer affiliated with the Global and International Studies Program, the Department of Sociology, and the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. The issue can be found here or accessed through the UCSB library system.
The objectives of the Rio 2012 conference are: to secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development, to assess progress towards internationally agreed goals on sustainable development, and to address new and emerging challenges. The Summit will also focus on two specific themes: a green economy in the context of poverty eradication and sustainable development and an institutional framework for sustainable development. The full text of Resolution A/RES/64/236, which endorsed the Summit, is available here (source).
Editor’s note: Many thanks to Geography grad student Daniel Ervin for providing the material for this article.
