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This year's big event is undoubtedly the United Nations (UN) World Summit on Sustainable Development which will take place in Johannesburg, South
Africa between 26th August - 4th September 2002.
Also known as 'Earth Summit 2002' or 'Rio+10' it comes ten years on from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which focused on the
tension between economic growth and the protection of the
environment. That proved groundbreaking at the time and the scope of Johannesburg is even broader.
The Earth Summit will bring together tens of thousands of people, including world leaders and Government, national delegates and leaders from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), businesses and other major groups to focus the world's attention and direct action toward meeting difficult challenges. These include improving people's lives and conserving our natural resources in a world that is growing in population, with ever-increasing demands for food, water, shelter, sanitation, energy, health services and economic security.
Ten years after Rio, the Johannesburg Summit presents an exciting opportunity for today's leaders to adopt concrete steps and identify targets for better implementing Agenda 21.
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