South Africa to host Earth Summit 2002
Johannesburg, South Africa has been announced as the venue for 2002's Earth Summit. The decision was made at the 55th session of United Nations General Assembly on environment and sustainable development (UNCED) on 8 December. More than 130 Heads of State attended the 1992 Earth Summit, held in Rio, Brazil, along with 15,000 NGOs and it is expected that most of the UN's 188 members will send delegations to the 2002 summit. 'With the expected attendance of more than 42,000 people from across the world, the hosting of this conference in Africa would be a powerful statement about the importance of sustainable development for the whole world,' said Rejoice Mabudafhasi, South Africa's deputy minister of environmental affairs and tourism. There is a general consensus among UN member states that the Agenda 21 principles (a plan for achieving sustainable development in the 21st century) agreed in Rio in 1992 should not be renegotiated. The Earth Summit 2002 should review the success and failures of countries in meeting their commitments made at Rio in a frank manner and further more, reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable development.