Friday, November 14, 2008

Fernando Scodro - 1992 Rio de Janeiro UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit)

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development owes its existence to the United Nations General Assembly’s Resolution 44/228. Adopted on the 22nd of December of 1989, this document decides to convene a conference which should “elaborate strategies and measures to halt and reverse the effects of environmental degradation in the context of increased national and international efforts to promote sustainable and environmentally sound development in all countries.”
The conference was more effective in the precedents it set, such as NGO participation, and willingness to talk about climate change and its effects on developing countries. The weakness of the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and the Statement on Forests did not undermine the impact these documents had on the world stage. The other two documents associated with the conference, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biodiversity, had a deeper impact on the world community with the binding character of its Protocols and commitments.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

what is the current state of progress for Environmental protection in developing countries?
do these developing countries receive any form of help from major organizations such as the UN and NGOs?
How do countries with economic problems or emerging economies deal with these issues when more important issues are more of a priority?

Martha Estima Scodro said...

Um dos grandes resultados, talvez não previsto diretamente, desta Conferência foi o despertar da consciência para o trabalho voluntário no Brasil. O enorme crescimento de ONGs voltadas para as mais diversas áreas de atuação deve-se muito a esta agenda de proteção ao meio ambiente. As idéias de desenvolvimento sustentável, crescimento ordenado, e tantas outras migraram do campo econômico e ambiental para o social, e com isto muitas organizações foram criadas visando a melhoria das condições de vida daqueles que de alguma forma foram, e ainda são, deixados para trás.
Para os brasileiros esta Conferência foi um divisor de águas, pois, a partir dela a sociedade civil pode perceber o seu poder de organização, e sem tomar o lugar do Estado, atuar como um complemento às suas ações, na resolução de problemas.