TheRio Declaration on Environment and Development, often shortened toRio Declaration, was a short document produced at the 1992United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit. The Rio Declaration consisted of 27 principles intended to guide countries in future sustainable development. It was signed by over 175 countries.
The Rio Conference, which adopted the Declaration, took place from 3 to 14 June 1992. Subsequently, the international community has met twice to assess the progress made in implementing the principles of the document; first inNew York City in 1997 during a General Assembly Session of the UN, and then inJohannesburg in 2002. While the document helped to raise environmental awareness, evidence from 2007 suggested that little of the document's environmental goals had at that time been achieved.[1]
Referring to the "integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, "our home", the Rio Declaration proclaims 27 principles. The first principle states that sustainable development primarily concernshuman beings, who are entitled to livehealthy andproductive lives in harmony with nature.[2] Article 11 creates an expectation that states will enactenvironmental legislation. Further articles include formulations of theprecautionary principle, which should be "widely applied by states according to their capabilities" (principle 15), and of thepolluter pays principle, which states are encouraged to adopt where it is in thepublic interest to do so and it will not distortinternational trade and investment (principle 16). The final principle invites fulfillment of the other principles in a spirit of good faith.
The Rio Declaration expresses a positive view oftraditional ecological knowledge.[3]: 132
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