Agenda 21

Agenda 21 is a global action plan for sustainable development for the 21st century. Leaders from more than 100 countries agreed to Agenda 21 - over 800 pages long and the product of intense negotiations - at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also called the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Addressing the social, environmental, and economic implications of development, Agenda 21 contains strategies and program measures that countries can implement to promote the sustained and responsible development of the planet.

Agenda 21

United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development

As follow-up to the Earth Summit, the United Nations General Assembly created the Commission on Sustainable Development. The Commission monitors countries' progress toward meeting the goals of Agenda 21 (Canada's reports) as well as agreements such as the Forest Principles and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. It provides a means by which governments and experts can discuss sustainable development issues. Above all, the Commission offers a high-level political forum to keep sustainable development issues at the forefront of the world's agenda.

In 1997, the Commission conducted a five-year review of progress with respect to Agenda 21. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, advances made over the past 10 years were evaluated and a future program of work set out for countries in the Plan of Implementation.