Implications of the earth summit for ocean and coastal governance

Abstract

Abstract The Earth Summit (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)), held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, was unique in the history of international conferences. Never before had so many heads of state participated in such an international negotiation. UNCED was also unique in both the breadth of environmental and development issues addressed and in the nature of the cross‐cutting dimensions that were examined (for example, from poverty, population growth, and the role of indigenous peoples to unsustainable patterns of consumption (in the North), the role of women, and technology transfer). The chapter devoted to oceans and coasts was the longest and, in some ways, the most comprehensive, of the 40 chapters making up the action plan (Agenda 21) that was approved at Rio. This article provides an overview of the events leading up to the Earth Summit, describes the principal outputs of the conference and their potential effects on ocean and coastal governance, discusses the main tensions seen at UNCED and some of the negotiating processes, and, finally, considers current efforts at implementation of its recommendations.