Commission on Sustainable Development
acting as the preparatory committee for the
World Summit on Sustainable Development
Second preparatory session
28 January - 8 February 2002
E/CN.17/2002/PC.2/....
ADVANCE UNEDITED TEXT

I. Introduction 1 – 15

II.Major Trends and Developments Since UNCED 16 – 45

III. Combating Poverty and Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods 46 – 81
A. Rural Poverty, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security 47 – 55
B. Urban Poverty and Human Settlements 56 – 65
C. Demographic Dynamics 66 – 68
D. Health and Sustainable Development 69 – 76
E. Education 77 – 81

IV. Sustainable Consumption and Production 82 – 106
A. Energy and Transport 89 – 98
B. Industry 99 – 102
C. Tourism 103 – 106

V. Protecting the Integrity of Life-Supporting Ecosystems 107 – 147
A. Integrated Land Management 109 – 115
B. Forests 116 – 121
C. Oceans 122 – 128
D. Freshwater Resources 129 – 133
E. Atmosphere and Climate 134 – 143
F. Impact of Natural Disasters 144 – 147

VI. Institutional Framework For Sustainable Development: The Need For Policy Integration Knowledge-Based Decision-Making And Participation 148 – 177
A. National Sustainable Development Strategies 149 – 152
B. Implementing International Legal Instruments 153 – 157
C. Information for Decision-making 158 – 164
D. Participation of Major Groups 165 – 172
E. Formulation of Common Responses within the United Nations System 173 – 177

VII. Means of Implementation 178 – 216
A. Finance 178 – 189
B. Trade 190 – 198
C. Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology 199 – 207
D. Science and Capacity Building 208 – 216

VIII. Strengthening Implementation - Global Partnerships for Sustainable Development 217 – 241
A. Making Globalization Work for Sustainable Development 221
B. Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelihoods 222 – 223
C. Changing Unsustainable Patterns of Consumption and Production 224
D. Promoting Health through Sustainable Development 225
E. Access to Energy and Energy Efficiency 226
F. Sustainable Management of Ecosystems and Biodiversity 227
G. Managing the World's Freshwater Resources 228
H. Finance and Technology Transfer 229
I. Sustainable Development Initiatives for Africa 230
J. Strengthening the System of International Governance for Sustainable Development 231 - 241 

I. INTRODUCTION
 

1. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was a landmark event to secure economic, social and environmental well-being for present and future generations. With the adoption of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the UNCED-related conventions¹, world leaders defined a clear agenda for sustainable development.

2. The outcomes of Rio project a vision of development balanced between humanity's economic and social needs and the capacity of the earth's resources and ecosystems to meet present and future needs. This is a powerful, long term, vision. However, ten years later, despite initiatives by governments, international organizations, business, civil society groups and individuals to achieve sustainable development, progress towards the goals established at Rio has been slower than anticipated and in some respects conditions are worse than they were ten years ago.

3. Some progress has been made in adopting measures to protect the environment. But the state of the world's environment is still fragile and the conservation measures are far from satisfactory. In most parts of the developing world there has been, at best, limited progress in reducing poverty. Some progress has been made in some areas of health, but other problems have surfaced, such as HIV/AIDS.

4. There is undoubtedly a gap in implementation. This gap is particularly visible in four areas. Firstly, a fragmented approach towards sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development is meant to reflect the inextricable connection between environment and development. Sustainable development must simultaneously serve economic, social and environmental objectives. Policies and programmes have generally fallen far short of this level of integration in decision making at the national and international level.

5. Secondly, no major changes have occurred since UNCED in the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production which are putting the natural life support system at peril. The value systems reflected in these patterns are among the main driving forces which determine the use of natural resources. Although the changes required for converting societies to sustainable consumption and production patterns are not easy to implement, the shift is imperative.

6. Thirdly, there is a lack of mutually coherent policies or approaches in the areas of finance, trade, investment, technology and sustainable development. In a globalizing world, the need for consistency and coherence in these policies has become more important than ever before. Yet, policy on these issues remains compartmentalized, governed more by short-term considerations than the longer-term determinants of the sustainable use of natural resources.

7. Fourthly, the financial resources required for implementing Agenda 21 have not been forthcoming, and mechanisms for the transfer of technology have not improved. Since 1992, ODA has declined steadily, the burden of debt has constrained options for poor countries and the expanding flows of private investment have been volatile and directed only at a few countries and sectors.

8. Agenda 21 must be implemented together with the outcomes of the major United Nations Conferences held since 1992, which have been particularly effective in articulating an agenda for social development and human rights. Those outcomes have come together in the development goals articulated in the Millennium Declaration. Since then, the Conference on Least Developed Countries (Brussels 2000) and the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of Parties of UNFCCC (Marrakech 2001) have marked further important steps in the field of sustainable development.

9. Despite the gaps in implementation, Agenda 21 and the Rio principles remain as valid as they were in 1992. However, the global context has changed. Globalization, the revolution in information and communication technologies, social dislocation in many parts of the world, and the spread of HIV/AIDS are some of the features of the world today which need to be taken into account in strengthening implementation.

10. In the economic sphere, the success of the Fourth WTO Ministerial Meeting, held at Doha in November 2001, in putting development at the centre of further trade negotiations augurs well for the future of the trading system and the potential it offers to developing countries. The International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Monterrey in March 2002 is expected to discuss ways and means of promoting coherence and consistency in the global financial system. One of the primary objectives is to bring a development orientation to the world of finance.

11. These are some of the essential building blocks for strengthening implementation at WSSD. The outcome of Johannesburg needs to draw from these and related conferences to launch new concrete programmatic initiatives. The success of these initiatives will require strong political will, practical steps and strong partnerships.

12. Political will is the key to success, as effective new initiatives will require major changes in the way policies and programmes for sustainable development are designed and implemented. Such practical steps are needed to establish the credibility of the Johannesburg Summit in carrying forward the sustainable development agenda in meaningful and measurable ways. Partnerships with a variety of stakeholders are essential for ensuring the commitment of all, including those who have the direct impact on the use of resources.

13. Political will, practical steps and partnerships have to be combined with a renewed spirit of global cooperation and solidarity. One of the most important effects of 11 September has been to highlight the fact that we are living in one world, and that no part of that world can afford to ignore the problems of the rest. We share a common future and we must work together to ensure our own well-being and that of future generations. The neglect of longer-term concerns today will sow the seeds of future suffering, conflict and poverty.

14. The purpose of this report is to review progress in implementing Agenda 21 and other UNCED outcomes, to provide an overview of key developments that affect the implementation, and to suggest policies and programmes for strengthening the implementation of the outcomes of the Rio Summit and related processes.

15. No single report can do justice to the myriad efforts that have been made throughout the world to implement Agenda 21. The full scope of the work done can only be appreciated through reference to all of the reports that will be submitted during the course of the preparatory process, particularly the Country Profiles which will contain more detailed information on country initiatives. In addition, a series of factual reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Agenda 21 (E/CN.17/2001/PC/2 to PC/21) were submitted to the first preparatory meeting in May 2001. There is a wealth of information in those reports that support and supplement what is contained in the present report. The reports of the regional preparatory meetings held during the latter half of 2001 contain many valuable proposals for action, some of which have been incorporated into the present report. The Ministerial Statements from the five regional intergovernmental preparatory meetings, as well as the outcomes of other meetings that have been organized in preparation for Johannesburg, enrich the material available to the intergovernmental process.

II. MAJOR TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS SINCE UNCED

16. A major development in the world economy in the 1990s was rapid globalization, particularly in the form of increased international flows of goods, services and finance. This was a result of a number of factors, including policy actions by governments, collectively and individually, to liberalize trade and capital markets, and privatization and deregulation of economic activities.

17. Another force behind globalization was the rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and their increasingly global use. Increased private financial flows were facilitated by global information networks, including the Internet which drove dynamic ICT sectors, increasing employment and production in a number of developing countries, in particular in East Asia. At the same time, a large number of developing countries were unable to take advantage of either globalization or the development of ICTs.

18. Globalization and ICTs demonstrated both their benefits and their limitations for development during the 1990s. Countries and enterprises which were able to successfully adapt to the new circumstances prospered; those which were unable to do so due to lack of technical capabilities, infrastructure or institutional capacity saw a widening gap between themselves and the rest of the world. ICTs have great potential to further the sustainable development agenda, especially if effective steps are taken to bridge the digital divide.

19. Against the backdrop of globalization and the spread of ICTs, a number of major economic events and trends affected the world economy during the 1990s. During the first half of the decade, most countries enjoyed significant economic growth, although conflict imposed great human costs and economic damage on an increasing number of countries. The former centrally planned economies experienced rapid and severe deterioration of economic and social conditions in their transition to market economies. In the developed world, the economy of the United States enjoyed a record period of expansion and served as an important engine of growth for the rest of the world economy. In Europe, a single currency region covering most of Western Europe (the European Monetary Union) was created. Japan, on the other hand, was unable to extricate itself from its decade-long recession. Overall, the world economy experienced less turbulence during the 1990s than during the 1980s, although there were important exceptions. The average annual rate of growth of gross domestic product (GDP) for the developing countries as a whole increased to 4.3 per cent in the 1990s, compared to 2.7 per cent in the 1980s, while the developed countries registered 2.3 per cent average growth in the 1990s, down from 3 per cent in the previous decade.²

20. The overall picture, however, does not capture the continuing difficulty that many countries in Africa faced during the 1990s. While economic growth in the region improved marginally, continued high population growth eroded the gains, and the gap in standards of living between Africa and other regions widened further. Furthermore, while the economic growth of the region was associated with higher levels of agricultural production, manufacturing failed to develop, leaving many countries dependent on a few commodity exports with volatile and generally declining prices.

21. In the economies in transition, GDP fell an average of 2.5 per cent per year, compared with growth of 1.8 per cent per year during the 1980s. Economic decline was particularly pronounced in the first half of the decade with domestic production falling by as much as 50 per cent in three years. Many of these countries experienced sharp increases in poverty and unemployment and cuts in education, health, pension payments, public transportation and other social services. While countries in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States and a few countries in the CIS grew strongly during the second half of the 1990s, other countries, particularly those in Central Asia, struggled to restore growth.

22. International trade flourished during the 1990s, though regional performance varied. Global exports grew at an average rate of 6.4 per cent, reaching $6.3 trillion in 2000. Developing countries became more significant players in world trade, with their exports growing 9.6 per cent annually. Exports from Africa, however, increased more slowly, and the region's share of world trade declined from 2.7 per cent in 1990 to 2.1 per cent in 2000. The collapse of the trading arrangements of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) at the end of the 1980s severely constrained exports from economies in transition in the first half of the 1990s. Many countries in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, however, successfully reoriented their exports to Western Europe in the second half of the decade, and their export sectors became one of the important contributors to their robust growth. As in the case of Africa, economies in transition without a solid manufacturing base benefited little from globalization.

23. Globalization was also reflected in rapid increases in international financial flows, but these exhibited a large degree of volatility. Throughout the 1990s, the United States attracted large flows of external private capital, owing to its strong economic performance and development of innovative financial products. For at least the first half of the decade, a number of developing countries, particularly middle-income countries, attracted increasing private financial flows, with foreign direct investment showing particular strength. At the same time, these countries experienced periodic financial crises that required multilateral intervention, first in Mexico in 1995 and then in a number of East Asian and other countries from 1997 to 1999.

24. In contrast to the success of some middle-income countries in attracting private capital, the external financial position of low-income countries did not improve. These countries continued to rely primarily on official sources of external finance. Official development assistance declined significantly and, for most of the decade, little progress was made in resolving the external debt difficulties faced by many of the poorest countries.

25. Events since September 11 have added to an overall sense of uncertainty and contributed to a global slowdown. There are concerns that the long-term goals of sustainable development will be undermined by the pressures of short-term needs. As noted by the African and Asia-Pacific regional Preparatory Committees, strife and social instability have hampered the efforts of many countries to achieve sustainable development.

26. World population reached 6 billion in 2000, up from 2.5 billion in 1950, and 4.4 billion in 1980. World population is projected to grow to about 8 billion in 2025, to 9.3 billion in 2050, and eventually to stabilize between 10.5 and 11 billion.¹ World population growth reached a peak of 2 per cent per year in 1965 and has since declined to 1.3 per cent in 2000. It is projected to decline to 1 per cent around 2020 and 0.5 per cent in 2050.³

27. Demographic change has affected sustainable development in various ways. Population size, growth, age structure, and educational, health and socio-economic characteristics, all have an effect on the use of natural resources, as do gender relations and migration patterns. The overall impact of these trends on sustainable development has varied from one country or one region to another. In some European countries and Japan, a key concern has been rapid population ageing, driven by low fertility levels, and the impact on pensions, health care and other social services. As a result of declining fertility, the population of the developed countries is projected to reach a peak in about 2025 and decline thereafter, so that all of the world's population growth after 2025 is expected to occur in the developing world. In some developing countries, high population growth rates, poor health, increasing mortality due to AIDS, and declining school enrolment rates have been critical demographic factors constraining development. Population movements have also at times led to deforestation and other negative environmental consequences.³

28. Total consumption and the pressure it exerts on natural resources and the environment depends on part on population, but even more on affluence and technology. Fifteen per cent of the world's population, in the high-income countries, account for 56 per cent of total consumption, while the poorest 40 per cent, in low-income countries, account for only 11 per cent of total consumption.⁴ While most people have experienced some growth in consumption in recent years, the consumption expenditure of the average African household is 20 per cent less than it was 25 years ago.⁵

29. During the 1990s, the overall poverty rate in developing countries, based on an income poverty line of $1 per day, declined from 29 per cent in 1990 to 23 per cent in 1998. The total number of people in income poverty declined slightly from about 1.3 billion to 1.2 billion. There has been substantial progress in reducing poverty through rapid economic growth in East and Southeast Asia, and some progress in reducing the poverty rate in South Asia and Latin America. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, where almost half of the population live in poverty, there has been no progress in reducing the poverty rate, and the number of people in poverty has increased substantially.⁶ Economic growth has the potential to substantially reduce the number of people living in poverty. World Bank projections using a best-case economic scenario indicate that the total number of people living on less that $1 per day could decline to about 750 million persons by 2015.⁷

30. Somewhat greater progress has been made in other aspects of poverty, including health care, child and maternal mortality, hunger reduction, access to education, and access to safe water and sanitation. However, at least 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water and about 2.4 billion to adequate sanitation.⁸ More than 8 per cent of children in developing countries still die before the age of five, and in some of the poorest countries one in five children die before their first birthday. There are still more than 113 million primary-school-age children in developing countries not in school, of whom 60 percent are girls.⁹

31. Of the estimated 815 million people in the world who are undernourished, an estimated 777 million live in developing regions, 27 million in transition countries, and 11 million in industrialized countries.¹⁰ While the largest number of hungry people live in South Asia, those numbers are declining. In Africa, about one-third of the population are undernourished, and the number is increasing.¹¹ According to recent projections by FAO, the global goal of reducing hunger by half by 2015 will not be met if present trends continue.

32. During the 1990s, health conditions generally improved, with average life expectancy increasing and child mortality rates declining. Notable progress towards the elimination of some major infectious diseases such as polio has been achieved. Nonetheless, poor health continues to be a major constraint on development in many developing countries. Inadequate and contaminated water supplies, poor sanitation facilities, severe indoor air pollution from traditional fuels, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious and parasitic diseases, and lack of access to reproductive health services take a high toll in death and disease. In Africa, the emergence of AIDS has devastated the young adult population, dramatically reducing life expectancy and creating enormous obstacles to economic and social development. At the same time, developed countries, and some developing countries, have seen increases in diseases associated with unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles and overweight.

33. Contaminated water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene cause a large proportion of ill health and disease in the developing world, leading to millions of deaths each year.¹² Malaria is endemic in 101 countries and territories, causing over 1 million deaths each year. Cholera, typhoid, viral hepatitis A, dysentery, intestinal worms, trachoma, river blindness, schistosomiasis, arsenic poisoning and dengue fever are other water-related diseases that affect millions of people in developing countries.

34. Global food production has continued to expand more rapidly than population in the last decade, with lower food prices and improved nutrition in many countries. This has been possible as a result of expansion in cultivated land and increased productivity through more irrigation, better seeds, improved and better targeted use of agricultural inputs, and other improved agricultural techniques. However, some agricultural practices have led to environmental deterioration. In Africa, agricultural productivity has remained extremely low while population has grown rapidly, making many countries in the region increasingly dependent on food imports.

35. To protect and increase agricultural productivity, more sustainable agricultural techniques have been introduced, including conservation agriculture to conserve soil and water while reducing time and labour in land preparation, consuming less fuel, and reducing the need for chemical inputs. Another major success has been the development and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) techniques that have contributed to sustainable agricultural intensification while minimising negative environmental impacts. By reducing the need for pesticide applications through the use of pest-resistant crop varieties, natural enemies and cultivation techniques, IPM has increased the sustainability of farming and ecological systems at minimal cost.

36. Nonetheless, as a result of agricultural expansion to meet the growing demand for food and other agricultural products, forests and grasslands have been reduced and wetlands have been lost, reducing biodiversity and other environmental goods and services. Soil degradation affects at least 2 billion hectares and perhaps as much as two-thirds of the world's agricultural lands.

37. Natural disasters such as droughts, floods, landslides, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions cause much human suffering and economic losses and are an important obstacle to development in vulnerable communities. Poor land management can increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters such as floods, and poorly planned settlements and lack of emergency preparedness can greatly increase the damage done by disasters. Civil strife and war continue to cause degradation of land and water, as well as death, disease, famine, displacement and other threats to human welfare and development.¹³

38. The expansion of irrigated agriculture and growing demands for water for industrial and municipal uses have increased pressures on freshwater resources in many countries. Areas of water scarcity are increasing, particularly in North Africa and West Asia. In the next two decades, it is estimated that 17 per cent more water will be needed to grow food for growing populations in developing countries and that total water use will increase by 40 per cent. One-third of the countries in water-stressed regions of the world are expected to face severe water shortages in the 21^st century. By 2025, as much as two-thirds of the world's population could live in countries with moderate or severe water stress. Salinity is a problem in many countries, and arsenic contamination of water is a severe problem in some parts of Asia, as noted by the Asia-Pacific regional preparatory meeting,¹⁴ It is estimated that more than half of the world's major rivers are seriously polluted.¹⁵

39. The world's biological diversity remains a cause of great concern. Despite some positive trends in the number and extent of protected areas, widespread biodiversity losses continue to occur. More than 11,000 species are listed as threatened with extinction, and more than 800 species have already become extinct, mostly due to the loss or degradation of their habitats. About 5,000 other species are potentially threatened unless major efforts are undertaken to reverse their population declines.

40. About 50 percent of all marine capture fisheries are fully utilized and another 25 percent are over-fished, leaving only 25 percent with some potential for increased fish harvests.¹⁶ Total marine catches from most of the main fishing areas in the Atlantic Ocean and some in the Pacific Ocean reached their maximum potential years ago. This over-fishing not only reduces economic growth, but also undermines the food security and livelihoods of many people in coastal areas and small island developing States.

41. The world's natural forests continue to be converted to agriculture and other land uses at a high rate. The rate of deforestation globally for the 1990s is estimated at 14.6 million ha per year, mostly in tropical developing countries. At the same time, there has been an increase in forest area in some developed and developing countries, due to both natural forest succession on abandoned agricultural land and the establishment of forest plantations, at an estimated rate of 5.2 million ha per year. This increase in forest area has helped offset deforestation in other areas, resulting in the net annual loss in forest area worldwide of 9.4 million ha (0.2 percent of total forests). Net deforestation rates were highest in Africa and South America, whereas in Asia, new forest plantations significantly offset deforestation.¹⁷

42. Many coastal areas, including estuaries, marshes, mangrove swamps, lagoons, sea grass beds and coral reefs, make a major contribution to marine productivity and play a critical role in protecting fragile coastal and marine ecosystems from storms. Approximately 27 percent of reefs are estimated to have been lost due to both direct human impacts and the effects of climate change, and it is predicted that a further 32 percent of the world's coral reefs may be functionally destroyed within the next 30 years unless urgent measures are taken.¹⁸

43. Scientific assessments have found new and stronger evidence that much of the global warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. They warn of potentially devastating global warming over the coming century, with rising sea levels and changing weather patterns, including large-scale events such as El Niño.¹⁹ Increasing storms, floods, drought and high temperatures could threaten the lives and livelihoods of many millions of people. Residents of small island developing states and low lying coastal areas would be most at risk from rising sea levels. While the need to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate change has become more widely recognized in the 1990s, global consumption of fossil fuels continues to increase.

44. The increase in greenhouse gas emissions has been largely due to increased fossil fuel consumption, particularly for transportation, as a result of economic growth. During the period 1992-1999, world consumption of energy increased by almost 10 per cent. Per capita use remains highest among developed countries, though efforts have been undertaken to promote energy efficiency, utilize cleaner technologies and, in some cases, curb demand. Global carbon emissions doubled between 1965 and 1998, amounting to an average increase of 2.1 per cent per year, following the general trend of energy consumption. People in developed countries consumed an average of 6.4 tons of oil equivalent per year (toe/yr) per capita in 1999, ten times the consumption in developing regions of around 0.62 toe/yr per capita.²⁰

45. Energy consumption for transportation increased more rapidly than other uses in the 1990s, with petroleum accounting for 95 per cent of that consumption.²¹ Energy consumption in the transport sector is expected to continue to increase rapidly, at 1.5 per cent per year in developed countries and 3.6 per cent in developing countries. CO₂ emissions from this sector are expected to increase by 75 percent between 1997 and 2020. CO₂ emissions from aircraft are expected to increase even more rapidly, at 3 per cent per year.

III. COMBATING POVERTY AND PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS

46. Reducing poverty and improving opportunities for sustainable livelihoods requires economic and social development, sustainable resource management and environmental protection. Environmental degradation, resource depletion and natural disasters have a disproportionate impact on people in poverty, who also bear a disproportionate burden of disease. The struggle against poverty is the shared responsibility of all. In the Millennium Declaration, world leaders committed themselves to a number of poverty-related goals. One practical approach is to connect the sustainability agenda with the goals that world leaders have endorsed in recent years, both through the UN conferences of the 1990s as well as the Millennium Summit. The priorities identified in these meetings and the priorities identified during the series of WSSD regional preparatory meetings provide a useful starting point for identifying those areas where future concentrated attention is most required.

A. Rural Poverty, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security

47. About three-quarters of the world's poor live and work in rural areas and are largely dependent on the agricultural sector for sustenance and livelihoods. Increasing employment opportunities and food security depends, directly and indirectly, on improving agricultural productivity.

48. At the global level, agricultural production increased throughout most of the 1990s, with the average growth rate for the developing countries significantly outpacing that for the developed countries. Agricultural production stagnated at the end of the decade, due in large part to unfavourable weather conditions, with continued drought severely affecting food production in West and Central Asia, while floods reduced output in East Asia. In Central America, crop production was seriously affected by a string of natural disasters.²² In East Africa, a severe drought, which began in 1999 and continued into 2000, devastated crops and livestock. Civil strife is a persistent constraint on agriculture in many parts of Africa.

49. Sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) requires attention to a variety of issues including land use, deforestation, water supplies and irrigation, desertification, mountains, biological diversity and biotechnology. In some areas, the natural resource base for food and agriculture continues to degrade and shrink due to poor management of land and water resources causing desertification. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification should be acknowledged as a primary tool in the fight to eradicate poverty.²³

50. An important cause of rural poverty and unsustainable resource use is the lack of access of poor people to common property natural resources – pasture land, rivers, forests, etc. – due to undefined ownership, absence of legal rights, lack of community-based institutional frameworks and social relationships between groups.

51. Scarcity and inefficient use of water are increasingly important constraints on food production for growing populations in many regions. Approximately 70 per cent of the world's exploited freshwater resources are used by agriculture. Despite progress made in increasing the efficiency of water use in irrigation systems, only 30 per cent of water supplied is actually used by crops and plants. Similar inefficiencies often exist in water use associated with intensive livestock operations. More efficient technologies are being adopted in some countries, but much more needs to be done to improve the efficiency of water use by the agricultural sector.

52. Trade liberalization can lead to efficient production and distribution of food, reducing the cost to consumers. However, there can be negative effects on food security and livelihoods for the rural poor as cheap imports compete with local producers and reduce their incomes, driving many of them further into poverty.²⁴ The combination of trade liberalization and subsidies for agriculture in exporting countries poses a particular problem for rural development in other countries.

53. The negative effects of trade liberalization on rural development can be avoided or minimized through a number of measures. Agricultural support measures in exporting countries can be changed from production incentives and export subsidies to income support for farmers and conservation incentives. Importing countries can diversify agricultural production by promoting agro-forestry, alternative crops and animal products with added value, and promote rural non-farm economic activities providing other employment opportunities.

54. The share of resources for agriculture and rural development in national budgets and in international assistance programmes has declined. This reduction is far from being compensated by private sector investments. While a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and services is part of the normal process economic development, it is often occurring prematurely in developing countries, resulting in the marginalization of large portions of the rural population.

55. Informing, educating and training agricultural producers and workers, other users of land resources and diverse stakeholders in SARD can help them to mobilize their own resources and undertake their own initiatives. In many cases, farmers' associations, workers' unions and other civil society groups, such as chambers of commerce and agriculture, have increased their own capacities in order to undertake collective and individual action. Such cooperation is being developed through a number of on-farm research, demonstration and training programmes.

B. Urban Poverty and Human Settlements

56. Rural-urban migration is increasing the number of poor people in urban areas. In Africa, over 40 percent of urban households live in absolute poverty, while in Latin America, about 36 per cent of women-headed households in cities are poor.²⁵
 

57. Urban poverty is generally associated with slums and unsustainable dwellings. To ease the sufferings of the urban poor and promote urban development, world leaders in the Millennium Declaration agreed to achieve, by 2020, significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, as proposed in the “Cities without Slums” initiative.²⁶

58. Unsustainable human settlements, or slums, are mostly informal and unplanned, often in dangerous locations and generally lacking basic municipal services such as safe drinking water, sanitation, public transport, schools and clinics. These may be the result of inadequate urban planning, lack of investment in infrastructure, speculative investment patterns, and indifference to the needs of the poor. Realization of the Millennium Declaration target would require action at many levels. Access to improved housing, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health and education are urgent priorities for improving the lives of slum dwellers. Long-term improvements would require better city planning and attention to land rights and urban infrastructures.
 

59. During the 1990s, about 438 million people in developing countries gained access to improved drinking water supply. However, given the rapid growth of urban populations, the number of urban dwellers lacking access to safe drinking water supplies also increased in the 1990s, by nearly 62 million.²⁷ By the year 2025, it is estimated that about 54 per cent of the population in developing countries will reside in urban areas. The task of providing safe water and adequate sanitation services to the growing urban and peri-urban population is a major challenge.

60. Progress in the provision of urban sanitation has been more encouraging. During the 1990s, some 542 million urban people in developing regions gained access to urban sanitation facilities, while the number of people lacking such access decreased by about 41 million people. This global trend was largely due to progress in the Asian and the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

61. The sustainability of urban development is, however, threatened by the enormous additional burden on wastewater treatment facilities and solid waste management capacities, which are already quite inadequate to cope with existing burdens.²⁸

62. Recent years have also seen a growing concern over the disposal of hazardous wastes, which are often dumped together with other wastes. This has posed severe health hazards for poor people who survive by scavenging wastes, particularly children. Some vector-borne diseases, such as Dengue fever, are linked to poor solid waste disposal. Some cities have experienced epidemics due to poor waste management, resulting in substantial human and economic losses.

63. Although policies in some countries are promoting waste reduction, recycling and safe disposal, most developing countries are lagging behind. There is a great potential for labor-intensive waste collection with resource recovery and recycling.
 

64. Some progress has been made in recognizing the contributions and potential of citizens' groups, grass roots organizations and civic leaders. Some community initiatives have created opportunities for low-income families to participate in community improvements, budget setting, citywide planning, disaster preparedness and other sustainable urban development activities.

65. In many countries, the infrastructure sector has undergone reforms resulting in public-private-partnerships that bring urgently needed capital, allowing expansion of services to previously unserved people.

C. Demographic Dynamics

66. Fertility in developing countries as a whole has dropped to just under three children per woman, about half what it was in the late 1960s, and the expectation is that it will fall further, to about 2.1 children per woman, the replacement level, by 2050. In developed countries, fertility is now 1.6 children per woman, below the replacement level, resulting in population ageing and, in some countries, population decline. However total world population will continue to grow, particularly in the least developed countries, whose combined population is expected to nearly triple between 2000 and 2050, rising from 658 million to 1.8 billion. The implications of rapidly growing populations for development and the environment could be far-reaching for these countries, which also have the greatest material resource constraints and the least environmental resilience.
 

67. Large movements of people from rural to urban areas continue in most developing countries. Rapid urbanization has led to a growing number of mega-cities that have in many cases overwhelmed local environmental resources and spawned huge peri-urban slums. The urban share of the world's population has grown from 30 per cent in 1950 to 47 per cent in 2000, and is expected to exceed 50 per cent between 2005 and 2010.²⁹ Urban authorities are struggling to provide infrastructure and basic social services and cope with the development and environmental impact of the large and growing population.

68. In the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, mortality has increased, particularly among young adults, creating imbalances in the age and sex composition of populations, and leaving millions of orphans.

D. Health and Sustainable Development

69. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without addressing the causes of ill health and its impact on development. Many health problems are caused or exacerbated by air and water pollution, noise, crowding, inadequate water supplies, poor sanitation, unsafe waste disposal, chemical contamination, poisoning and physical hazards associated with the growth of densely populated cities. WHO estimates that poor environmental quality contributes to 25 per cent of all preventable ill health in the world today. Air pollution, both ambient and indoors, including the work environment, continues to be a major contributor to respiratory and other illnesses, particularly in children (asthma and acute respiratory infections), women and the elderly (chronic respiratory illness). Some 2.1 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in rural areas of developing countries, die annually from indoor air pollution from traditional biomass fuels, with 80 per cent of those deaths among women and girls.
 

70. Poorly managed urban settlements and overcrowded housing make it easier for infectious diseases to spread and promote illicit drug use and violence. Poor health can be a major impediment to the participation of the urban poor in personal and community development efforts. Urban growth has outstripped the capacity of many municipal and local governments to provide even basic health services.

71. Several hundred million people continue to be infected annually with malaria, resulting in almost 300 million clinical cases worldwide each year, and over 1 million deaths. The scale of the problem is increasing in many countries due to deterioration in public health infrastructure, climatic and environmental changes, conflict-related human migration, widespread poverty and the emergence of drug-resistant parasites. Malaria has slowed economic growth in endemic countries in Africa by up to 1.3 per cent per year.
 

72. Several parasitic conditions continue to cause considerable morbidity and disability. In West Africa, however, onchocerciasis (river blindness) has been virtually eliminated in 11 countries through a programme relying on vector control and community-based drug treatment, freeing millions of people from infection by the disease and releasing millions of hectares of riverine land for resettlement and cultivation. Efforts are being intensified to monitor, control and eliminate the disease in the remaining countries of Africa and the Americas.

73. HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact on life expectancies in some countries, reducing it to pre-1980 levels. During the 1990s, life expectancy declined by 6.3 years in the 9 countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS.³⁰ It is the fastest growing health threat to development today. About 36 million adults and children are now living with HIV/AIDS, 95 per cent of them in developing countries, and 25 million in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 12 million Africans have died of AIDS (over 2 million in a single year), and 13.2 million children have been orphaned.³¹

74. There is increasing concern about food safety, related both to chemical substances and microorganisms. In many parts of the world, a rising incidence of food-borne disease has been evident over the past decade, due particularly to movement of animals and animal products and feeds. In addition, the direct and indirect health consequences, positive and negative, of biotechnology applications for food production are a matter of concern and assessment. While the growing trade in food brings benefits, it can also contribute to an increased dissemination of food-borne disease.

75. The reliance of over 2 billion people in the developing world on traditional biomass energy, including firewood, animal dung and agricultural residues, is associated with indoor air pollution and a variety of health problems including acute respiratory infections, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and other health conditions, contributing to millions of deaths each year, mostly among children and women.

76. Many of the key determinants of health and disease – as well as the solutions – lie outside the direct control of the health sector, in sectors concerned with environment, water and sanitation, agriculture, employment, urban and rural livelihoods, trade, tourism, energy and housing. Addressing the underlying determinants of health is key to ensuring sustained health improvements. There is a need for local, national and global action to address the health impacts of these broader factors.

E. Education

77. Education at all levels is a key to sustainable development. Educating people for sustainable development means not just adding environmental protection to the curriculum, but also promoting a balance among economic goals, social needs and ecological responsibility. Education should provide students with the skills, perspectives, values, and knowledge to live sustainably in their communities. It should be interdisciplinary, integrating concepts and analytical tools from a variety of disciplines. Few successful working models of education programmes for sustainable development currently exist.³²
 

78. One of the reasons why little progress has been made on education for sustainable development is that few financial resources have been dedicated to implementing it at any level. In many countries, however, the most important challenge still remains to provide adequate funding for basic education. Education is chronically under-financed, and there has not been much improvement in the level of investment in education, either from national or international sources.

79. Experience of the last decade has shown the usefulness of tailoring education to the needs of the poor, especially focused on women and girls. Investments in women' and girls' education translate directly into better nutrition for the whole family, better health care, declining fertility, poverty reduction, and better overall economic performance. Yet, the gap between numbers of boys and girls in school remains significant, and has, in some instances, even increased. The Arab Declaration to WSSD, adopted by the Arab ministers for development, planning and environment at the Cairo preparatory meeting, urged that greater emphasis be given to the education of women and to strengthening social programmes to raise the level of awareness of the importance of family planning and childcare.³³

80. Teacher education is a high priority since teachers can serve as agents of change in support of sustainable development. Efforts have been made since UNCED to develop international guidelines for reorienting teacher education. Progress has also been made in introducing an interdisciplinary approach into teaching and research. However, the frontiers between academic disciplines remain staunchly defended by professional bodies, resource allocation systems, career structures and criteria for promotion and advancement.

81. Non-formal education, including public information, is a key instrument for promoting sustainable development and a complement to formal education, which can be slow to change. The media and NGOs have a major responsibility for educating the public, working with other major groups and actors.

IV. SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

82. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without fundamental changes in the way industrial societies produce and consume. Since UNCED, a number of approaches have been developed to provide an operational focus for the general concept of sustainable consumption and production. Among the new approaches are cleaner production, pollution prevention, eco-efficiency, integrated product policies, “Factor 4” and “Factor 10”, and the de-coupling of economic growth from environmental degradation.³⁴
 

83. Putting into practice these approaches to changing consumption and production patterns, however, has been slow and the results limited. The ECE Ministerial Statement adopted at the Regional Ministerial Meeting for WSSD noted that although progress has been made in improving eco-efficiency in the countries of the ECE region and in de-coupling environmental and economic developments, these gains have been offset by overall increases in consumption. More natural resources are being consumed and more pollution is being generated.³⁵

84. Economic instruments have been increasingly used in many countries and sectors to make consumption and production patterns more sustainable. A growing range of environmental taxes and charges have been integrated into fiscal systems in a number of developed and developing countries.³⁶ There are a limited but growing number of tradable permit systems, including pollution emissions, water use, fisheries and land development rights. Deposit-refund schemes have been applied in some countries and play a growing role in solid waste management. There is also a small but increasing tendency towards the use of enforcement incentives, such as non-compliance fees and performance bonds. Voluntary codes and conduct can be an important tool for encouraging improved consumption and production practises.

85. While targeted subsidies can serve to promote sustainable practices, current subsidies often provide incentives for inefficient and unsustainable use of energy and natural resources. Estimates of subsidies worldwide, in both developed and developing countries, range from about $650 billion to about $1.5 trillion per year.³⁷ Removal or reduction of such subsidies can contribute to sustainability while generating financial savings for governments.

86. Owing to increased consumer awareness and concern for sustainable development, including concerns for health, working conditions and environmental impacts, the market for “green” and “fair trade” products has grown rapidly since the 1980s, particularly in developed countries. Consumer organizations and other non-governmental organizations have played an important role in increasing consumer awareness of the impacts of consumption choices. This trend is expected to continue as young people worldwide share an increasing awareness of the “world behind the product.” Other tools for promoting sustainable consumption patterns include greening the supply chain, shifting consumption from products to services, life-cycle assessments of goods and services, and responsible marketing and advertising.

87. Environmental and social product standards and certification for eco-labels have helped consumers make informed decisions, but at the same time they present challenges for smaller producers, especially those in developing countries. Some producers in developing countries have taken the growing market for environmentally sound products as an opportunity to enter new export markets, such as that for organic products. However, awareness of “green products” is not sufficient to address the more fundamental issue of changing consumption patterns. Efforts are also needed to ensure that product standards do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade and to assist developing country exporters to meet international market requirements.

88. Based on the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the General Assembly, in 1999, expanded the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection to include principles of sustainable consumption.³⁸ The Guidelines now constitute a comprehensive framework for action by various stakeholders to promote sustainable consumption as well as consumer protection.

A. Energy and Transport

Energy

89. Energy is essential for economic growth and social equity, but is also associated with air pollution and other damage to health and the environment. The constraints on the energy system over the next 50 years will not be due to depletion of fossil fuel reserves, but rather to the environmental, social and geopolitical issues raised by energy production and consumption patterns.

90. Appropriate policies and measures can promote sustainable production and consumption of energy to support economic and social development. Efforts to promote sustainable energy include shifting from coal and oil to natural gas, developing renewable energy sources and advanced fossil fuel technologies, and adopting more efficient technologies. Many Governments have introduced national policies to promote renewable energy sources, including economic incentives, research and development, improvement of institutional capabilities and innovative financing and credit mechanisms. Several countries have adopted regulatory measures, investment portfolio standards and non-fossil fuel obligations for electric utilities to promote renewable energy. However, renewable energy use remains low.
 

91. Significant progress has been made in developing and applying advanced fossil fuel technologies toward the long-term goal of near-zero emissions of air pollution, including greenhouse gases. The efficiency with which energy is used in industrially production as well as in lighting, household appliances, transportation, and heating and cooling of buildings has also improved. However, these efficiency gains have been offset by increases in the volume of production and consumption.

92. Nuclear power, which accounts for some 16 per cent of world electricity generation, is associated with a number of concerns. Challenges remain regarding safety and cost-effectiveness, particularly relating to spent fuel, radioactive waste management, transboundary impacts, and decommissioning of plants at the end or their operating life.

93. Privatization of electricity generation and distribution in both developed and developing countries has to some extent contributed to increasing efficiency and reducing waste. However, as generating capacity shifts to the private sector, regulators must ensure that sustainable development priorities are not forgotten. There are concerns over price increases and the provision of services to the poor. Policies designed to extend credit for provision of services to the poor, innovative cross-subsidy schemes, and cooperative arrangements may address some of these problems and contribute to efforts to eradicate poverty.

94. Measures to improve efficient production and use of energy for sustainable development should be coupled with steps to enhance access to affordable commercial energy. There are still over 2 billion people in developing countries without access to modern energy, a number which has not been reduced despite national grid expansions in recent decades. This challenge needs to be addressed by means of a variety of innovative measures.

Transport

95. Transport, like energy, is an indispensable part of modernization and development. The transport sector is particularly important in the new global context since competition in international markets depends on the ability to transport goods quickly and efficiently from production facilities to consumers. But transport systems are often associated, especially in urban areas, with air pollution, land degradation, and noise. Traffic congestion and accidents represent additional human and economic costs. Efforts are needed to improve the safe mobility of the world's growing population, while reducing environmental damage.

96. Transport infrastructure has important impacts on the way human settlements develop and grow. Investments in transport systems can have a positive impact for sustainable development if they are undertaken together with land-use regulations that limit urban sprawl and housing policies that respond to the transport needs of the poor. If properly designed, safe transport systems can assist in meeting social needs and contribute to enhanced economic activity with reduced environmental damage.

97. Due to improvements in motor vehicle technology and transportation systems, industrialized countries and some developing countries have substantially reduced urban smog, airborne lead and other pollution from motor vehicles. But these measures still fall short of what is needed. CO₂ emissions from transport constitute an increasing share of greenhouse gas emissions. In developing countries, increases in per capita income and growth in population have contributed to rapidly rising demand for transportation services and associated energy consumption. Still, access to transportation in many developing countries remains in adequate. In Africa, 80 per cent of all trips are still made by non-motorized forms of transport. Many countries, therefore, now have opportunities to design transport systems that contribute to sustainable development, particularly public transportation systems that provide social, economic and environmental benefits.
 

98. Efforts are underway in many countries to develop alternative fuels and engines. Vehicles with reduced emissions of both air pollutants and CO₂ emissions are now on the market, including vehicles with hybrid engines and vehicles fuelled with compressed natural gas. Promising advances have also been made in developing zero-emission fuel-cell vehicles, but commercial viability has not yet been achieved. Other efforts to reduce air pollution and CO₂ emissions from the transport sector could, particularly in the short term, focus on improving fuel efficiency and improving mass transportation.

B. Industry

99. Industry has a pivotal role to play in promoting a variety of economic and social objectives such as employment creation, technological innovation, poverty reduction, gender equality, labour standards, and greater access to education and health care.³⁹ At the same time, industry consumes large quantities of energy and natural resources and produces large amounts of waste and emissions.

100. In order to facilitate the introduction of cleaner, more efficient and more productive technologies, a growing number of developing countries and economies in transition, often with assistance from international organizations or donor countries, have established national cleaner production centres to assist enterprises in becoming cleaner, more efficient and more profitable.

101. Industry, often through industry associations, has also developed voluntary codes of conduct, charters and codes of good practice concerning social and environmental performance. The “corporate responsibility” movement is widening in developed countries, where firms are finding that better working conditions and more consultative forms of management result in improved economic and environmental performance.
 

102. Strategic alliances have been established between private-sector companies and universities and laboratories for research and development (R&D) for technology innovation. Such partnerships are particularly attractive for small and medium-size firms, since they often lack financial resources and expertise to engage in R&D on their own. Efforts are also being made in a number of countries to promote environmental management accounting (EMA) in industry, in order to promote the identification and implementation of cost-effective measures to reduce resource consumption, pollution and waste without government regulation and enforcement. Yet, much still needs to be done to promote sustainable production.

C. Tourism

103. Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world. Tourism is often seen as a promising growth sector in countries with a natural environment appealing to tourists, as those countries may face constraints in developing alternative sources of foreign exchange through exports. In some areas, eco-tourism provides resources to protect areas of special ecological interest. However, uncontrolled growth in tourism aiming at short-term benefits often results in negative impacts, harming the environment and society, and destroying the very basis on which tourism thrives. The tourism sector needs to be planned and managed in a sustainable manner with a long-term vision to bring economic benefits and income opportunities to host communities and contribute to poverty reduction, resource conservation and cultural preservation.

104. Small island developing States face particular challenges. The fragility of ecosystems and the limited scope for alternative development strategies of small island States make concerns for the environmental and the ecological impact of tourism particularly acute. Integrated planning can help make tourism compatible with the conservation of ecosystems and with the preservation of historical-cultural heritage as well as with the goals of economic growth.

105. The introduction of sustainable development principles and practices into the planning and implementation of tourism operations has become increasingly common in many countries. In several countries, national or local governments have adopted or supported tourism certification systems and eco-labelling. In other countries, efforts have been made to introduce sustainability issues in tourism education and training programmes. The hotel industry has generally accepted the need for introducing environmental management systems in their operations and, in some cases, has adopted such systems on a voluntary basis. Other sectors, such as tour operators and cruise lines, have also created voluntary initiatives, often with the help of the United Nations.

106. A major challenge facing the tourism sector is to more widely and effectively apply existing knowledge concerning sustainability to the planning and development of tourist facilities and to the day-to-day operations of tourism companies. Adaptation of planning, management and monitoring techniques to local requirements is necessary, guided by an understanding of the conditions, needs and development prospects of local communities.

V. PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF LIFE-SUPPORTING ECOSYSTEMS

107. Human activities are having an increasing impact on the integrity of complex natural ecosystems that provide essential support for human health and economic activities. An ecosystem approach to the integrated management of land, water and living resources promotes the conservation and sustainable use of resources, based on an understanding of the interactions among the elements of ecosystems, including human activities.

108. In order to improve the understanding of ecosystems and the impacts of human activities on them, and to better apply the ecosystem approach for sustainable development, the United Nations, together with scientific groups, governments, foundations and other international agencies, launched the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) in June 2001. The study will provide decision-makers with an improved understanding of the status of the world's ecosystems and the impact of ecosystem changes on human livelihoods and environmental conditions, so that steps can be taken to protect and restore the productivity of ecosystems.⁴⁰

A. Integrated Land Management

109. Expanding human requirements and economic activities are placing ever-increasing pressure on land resources, creating competition and conflicts, in some cases resulting in unproductive or destructive use of land resources. To optimise land productivity, land use should be planned and managed in an integrated manner, taking into account linkages between socio-economic development and environmental protection. Since UNCED, many governments have adopted policies to promote integrated management, but the pace of progress has been slow.
 

110. In many countries, existing systems of land tenure and land use planning do not generally promote sustainable land use. Difficulties in overcoming those constraints are primarily due to institutional rather than technical factors. Promotion of rural livelihoods requires improving access to land and other natural resources and increasing tenure security in a manner that is gender-responsive and environmentally sustainable. There is a need to strengthen institutional arrangements for land tenure, with the participation of civil society and local governments in the delivery of decentralized land administration services. Effective land tenure reform and land use planning require coordination and cooperation within and among several ministries and an equitable participatory process involving local communities and multiple stakeholders.⁴¹

111. In spite of the obstacles and the limited progress so far, land policy reform in a number of countries is an integral part of a sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) strategy and of national plans to combat desertification and drought. Changes in land policy offer multiple leverage possibilities for poverty reduction, including improving the status of women, preserving the rights of indigenous people, creating capital and facilitating credit, mobilizing and investing resources, controlling land speculation, and preventing misuse and degradation of land and water resources.

112. Land reforms have been more successful and easier to implement when beneficiaries and other stakeholders participate in their design and implementation, and when there is a strong political will to carry them out. They are more likely to have a positive impact on SARD when new landowners are provided with technical support services, credit facilities and grants during the reform process.

Desertification

113. The most critical, and increasing, threat to sustainable land use is desertification. It is estimated that desertification affects one-quarter of the total land area of the world, or about 70 percent of all drylands, and threatens the livelihoods of over 1 billion people in more than 100 countries. Desertification is closely linked with rural poverty and hunger. It exacerbates conditions leading to famine, migration, internal displacement, political instability and conflict.

114. The widespread nature of desertification led to UNCED's call for the elaboration of a new, legally binding international convention to combat desertification. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa (UNCCD) came into force in 1996 and has been ratified by 176 States. UNDP has helped developing countries participate in the negotiations and in the development of National Action Programmes. The African preparatory meeting for WSSD, held in Nairobi, invited the Johannesburg Summit to acknowledge the UNCCD as a sustainable development convention and to proclaim it as a prime tool in the eradication of poverty in Africa and in other dry and arid lands.

Mountains

115. Sustainable mountain development requires a comprehensive perspective that takes into account various aspects of sustainable development, including sustainable livelihoods and economic development, biodiversity and ecosystem management, water and land resource management and conservation, cultural diversity and heritage, traditional and indigenous knowledge, infrastructure, emergency and disaster preparedness and relief, research and information, and governance and peace. Very few countries have specifically addressed mountain issues in national laws and policies, however the designation of 2002 as the International Year of Mountains offers an opportunity to focus national, regional and international efforts on this area.⁴²

B. Forests

116. Forests and woodlands support a variety of economic and social activities and are vital to environmental stability. They provide a wide range of wood and non-wood products as well as employment and income and essential environmental services such as soil and water conservation, mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration and storage, and conservation of biological diversity. Forests also support a major industrial sector, make important contributions to rural livelihoods, and provide subsistence for millions of people living in and around forests.
 

117. The overarching principles of sustainable forest management, contained in the UNCED "Forest Principles" and Agenda 21,⁴³ have been further developed during the past ten years.

118. However, very little progress has been made toward reducing the high rate of deforestation in developing countries in tropical regions, resulting in a net loss of 4 per cent of the world's forest area between 1990 and 2000. Approximately half of the wood harvested in the world is used as fuelwood, and 90 per cent is consumed in developing countries. The total woody biomass of the world's forests is also declining, reducing the capacity for forests to mitigate climate change.
 

119. A common vision for the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests has been promoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) (1995-1997) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) (1997-2000), both under the auspices of the Commission on Sustainable Development. These processes have resulted in nearly 300 agreed proposals for action covering a broad range of issues, including deforestation and forest degradation, national forest programmes and traditional forest-related knowledge. However, some issues remain unresolved, including finance, transfer of technology, trade and legal framework.

120. In October 2000, ECOSOC established the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), a permanent high-level intergovernmental body with universal membership.⁴⁴ The UNFF has a multi-year programme of work and a plan of action for the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action.⁴⁵ To support the UNFF and enhance policy coordination and international cooperation, a Collaborative Partnership on Forests was formed by 11 international forest-related organizations both within and outside the UN system.

121. Continued progress towards sustainable forest management globally will depend on the international community's ability to mobilize political, financial, scientific and technical support, particularly for developing countries.

C. Oceans

122. The protection of the oceans, seas and coastal areas, including their living resources, requires a multi-sectoral but integrated approach that addresses all dimensions of ocean-related issues. The various elements include the management and sustainable development of coastal areas, the protection of the marine environment, the sustainable use and conservation of marine living resources in both the high seas and areas under national jurisdiction, and research on critical uncertainties including climate change. This approach, known as integrated coastal area management (ICAM), has in recent years replaced sectoral approaches, which have had limited success in the past.
 

123. In response to more and better information on the growing threats to the world's coral reefs, several international collaborative partnerships involving Governments, international organizations and major groups have been formed or strengthened in recent years to protect reefs. Local and community-level actions, backed up by legal and normative support at the national level, are especially critical to the success of these approaches and initiatives.
 

124. A large number of legal and voluntary agreements have been elaborated in recent years regarding sea-based as well as land-based sources of marine pollution. Problems remain, however, in the implementation of those agreements and in addressing emerging issues. The capacities of maritime administrations in many developing countries are still insufficient for effective implementation of international instruments.

125. Marine aquaculture is contributing an increasing supply of fish and has helped lower prices. Global production of marine capture fisheries, on the other hand, has remained relatively unchanged over the past decade. The reasons for this are known: over-fishing, fleet overcapacity and environmental factors. The prevalence of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, both on the high seas and within exclusive economic zones (EEZs), remains one of the most critical problems affecting world fisheries. New management regimes and the full implementation of existing schemes are required to prevent more fish stocks from over-exploitation or collapse.

126. Despite a great deal of attention and some progress in the area of responsible fisheries development and management as a result of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and a number of complementary international instruments and voluntary agreements⁴⁶, there is considerable room for improvement in their coverage and enforcement at global, regional, subregional and national levels.

127. There has also been an improvement in the understanding and appreciation of the diversity of marine species, which has led to improved management practices to reduce the risks to marine biodiversity. Fully protected reserves, or “no-take areas” have seen an improvement in the number, diversity and productivity of marine organisms. But such results are limited by the fact that less than 1 per cent of the world's oceans are protected in reserves. There have also been efforts to protect marine and coastal biodiversity from the harmful effects of the expanding aquaculture industry and from invasive alien species introduced into marine ecosystems.

128. Another significant outcome of the UNCED process was the Barbados Plan of Action on Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. The Regional Preparatory Committees for both the Latin America and Caribbean and Asia-Pacific regions called for increased recognition to be given to the economic, social and environmental vulnerability of small island developing States. The Asia-Pacific meeting also called for renewed commitment to sustainable ocean and coastal development, including full and integrated implementation of relevant international agreements.

D. Freshwater Resources

129. Water is a fundamental resource for sustaining life and for conserving the natural environment. Increased access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities and increased water supply for food production, industry and health purposes are essential for sustainable development. At the same time, water is required to sustain the ecological functions of wetlands and other ecosystems. The need to strike a balance among the increasing demands for water for many uses is a critical challenge facing many parts of the world.

130. The potential water problems facing an increasing number of countries can, at least in part, be attributed to a lack of management in the evaluation, provision and use of water resources. The supply-oriented approaches common in water management have aggravated inefficient allocation, distribution and use of water resources and resulted in deterioration of water quality in many areas. Despite an increasing awareness of current and future water shortages, water is often still treated as an infinite free good, with no incentives to encourage efficiency in its use.
 

131. Government intervention is essential to efficient water management and distribution while meeting basic social needs. But the role of government has been shifting from one of service provider to one of providing an enabling environment for integrated water resources management and coordination of the much-needed investments in the water sector. Irrigated agriculture, particularly large- and medium-scale schemes, as well as industrial production, continue to rely upon government regulations and subsidies for the provision of low-cost water services.

132. The need to delegate water resource management to the lowest appropriate level to promote active participation from communities for more efficient and productive use of water resources is increasingly recognized. NGOs are playing their role in building community awareness and local capacities. But there is a long way to go before these capacities are at the level required.

133. Many watershed boundaries do not reflect socio-political boundaries. Nearly two thirds of the world's major rivers are shared by several states, and over 300 rivers cross national boundaries. Water should be a factor of peaceful dialogue among countries and there is a growing tendency to view shared water resources as a catalyst for cooperation, rather than a cause of tension and conflicts. International cooperation on shared water resources is critical, especially in water-scarce regions where the upstream and downstream impacts of consumption and pollution are magnified. Establishing mechanisms for cooperation, negotiation and conflict resolution is necessary for achieving integrated water resource management. Existing bilateral and multilateral cooperation schemes can provide a sound framework for decision-making on and implementation of programmes and projects for joint management of freshwater resources across national borders.

E. Atmosphere and Climate

134. Protection of the atmosphere continues to be a major concern with respect to sustainable development. Projected impacts of climate change indicate high degrees of vulnerability among poor populations and populations in coastal areas. Increases in temperature will expand the geographic areas affected by malaria and other tropical diseases and adversely influence agricultural patterns in already vulnerable parts of the world. Rises in sea level will place low-lying coastal areas at risk from flooding, as well as cholera and other waterborne diseases. Extreme weather events are expected to increase in frequency and severity, with the burden falling disproportionately on the poor. A number of Regional Preparatory Committee meetings, including Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia-Pacific stressed the need for particular emphasis on adaptive measures and have called for increased international attention to this threat.
 

135. The international community has made some progress in promoting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on the comprehensive agenda developed at UNCED and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol, aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, establishes emission limitations and reduction objectives for industrialized countries, amounting to aggregate reduction of about five percent of 1990 emissions for the period 2008 – 2012.

136. At the sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP6) in July 2001, agreement was reached on elements of an emissions trading system to allow flexibility in meeting the overall target. The agreement includes core elements for the implementation of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, and technical and financial assistance to developing countries vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Recent success in reducing emissions of ozone depleting substances indicates the potential effectiveness of international cooperation on matters related to protection of the global atmosphere.
 

137. At the seventh session (COP7, Marrakech, 29 October – 9 November 2001), Governments adopted the Marrakech Accords, finalising the operational details of the Kyoto Protocol. This outcome is expected to open the way to further ratifications of the Protocol and its entry into force.

138. COP7 also adopted the Marrakech Declaration as an input to the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Declaration emphasised the contribution that action on climate change can make to sustainable development and called for capacity building, technology innovation and cooperation with the conventions on biodiversity and desertification.

139. Emissions of ozone depleting substances (ODS), and their abundance in the lower atmosphere have peaked and are now slowly declining. Total consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) worldwide has decreased from about 1.1 million tons in 1986 to 156,000 tons in 1998, largely due to the effectiveness of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol. However, while chlorine concentrations are declining, bromine concentrations, more effective at destroying ozone than chlorine, are increasing.
 

140. Emissions from transport, energy and industrial sectors have caused increased air pollution in urban areas and serious health impacts, particularly in countries undergoing rapid industrialization, motorization and urbanization. In rural areas of many developing countries, the use of fuelwood, crop residues, charcoal and manure for domestic cooking and heating creates severe indoor air pollution, imposing particular health risks for women and children,

141. Many cities in developed country as well as a number of cities in developing countries have established systems to monitor air quality. In some cities, authorities react to high pollution levels with control measures such as restricting traffic, ordering certain industries to reduce pollution levels and issuing health warning and recommendations that congested highways be avoided.

142. Progress in reducing air pollution has been achieved in North America and Europe, where a number of international agreements relating to the transboundary effects of air pollution have been adopted to limit emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. More recently, air pollution and its transboundary effects has become an important issue in many developing countries. Regional cooperation can play a positive role in reducing the impacts of air pollution.

143. Efforts to address problems related to the atmosphere and climate change have been enhanced by scientific research and assessment based on reliable and accurate data and information. Interdisciplinary cooperation in the development and provision of specialized meteorological and hydrological services for agriculture, water management, aviation and marine transport has contributed to those efforts.

F. Impact of Natural Disasters

144. During the past four decades, the world has witnessed an exponential increase in human and material losses due to natural disasters. The destruction of economic and social infrastructure, as well as environmental damage, due to natural disasters has meant an increase in economic losses by almost a factor of ten during this period.⁴⁷ The ongoing discussion on the increase of the frequency and intensity of extreme events has focused on climate change. However, reasons can also be found in the global increase in human vulnerability due to population pressure, settlement in high-risk areas, deforestation of watersheds, degradation of vegetation and desertification. The impact of these disasters, especially in developing countries, could have been mitigated through early warning and response systems.
 

145. The increasing damage from natural disasters led governments to adopt the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) to promote implementation of the recommendations emanating from the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR, 1990-1999).⁴⁸ The aim of the ISDR is to mobilize Governments, UN-agencies, regional bodies, the private sector and civil society to unite efforts in building resilient societies by developing a culture of prevention and preparedness.

146. Many small island developing States (SIDS) are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, including storms and volcanic eruptions, and a single disaster can have major national social and economic impacts. A number of initiatives have been pursued at the national and regional levels, some with the support of UN agencies, to reduce the vulnerability of SIDS to natural disasters.

147. Further policies and measures are needed to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters. Such policies include early warning systems, better preparedness and preventive measures. Development strategies should include policies to reduce vulnerability to disasters, based on vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies.

VI. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE NEED FOR POLICY INTEGRATION, KNOWLEDGE-BASED DECISION-MAKING AND PARTICIPATION

148. Institutional and legal arrangements at national, regional and international levels provide the overall structure for achieving sustainable development. A goal of Agenda 21 is greater cooperation and policy integration among international and national institutions, in order to rationalize the legal regimes at various levels and to ensure better, more participatory and more informed decision-making.

A. National Sustainable Development Strategies

149. Agenda 21 introduced the concept of national sustainable development strategies (NSDS) as a means for integrating economic, social and environmental objectives into a strategically focused blueprint for action. The Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 established the target year of 2002 for all countries to have formulated national sustainable development strategies. According to national reports received from Governments, about 85 countries have developed some kind of national strategy,⁴⁹ although the nature and effectiveness of these strategies vary considerably from country to country.

150. Countries have addressed the challenge of developing sustainable development strategies in different ways. Some countries have developed sectoral or thematic policies that reflect broader sustainable development concerns. Others have used conventional sectoral master plans, often prepared as parts of five-year development plans to coordinate donor involvement in a particular sector. Examples of sectoral and thematic strategies include national plans of action to combat desertification, national forest programmes and coastal zone management policies. In many of these cases, sectoral policy is a tool for complying with the requirements of international commitments and helping decision-makers achieve and measure progress towards sustainable development goals and targets.

151. The establishment in some countries of participatory institutional structures or forums, such as national councils of sustainable development or inter-ministerial commissions, has had a positive impact on consensus building in the formulation of national sustainable development strategies. UNDP, through its Capacity 21 programme, has assisted more than 40 developing countries in building their institutional and human capacities to formulate and implement national sustainable development strategies. UNEP, in creating an international cooperative environment assessment framework for the production of the Global Environmental Outlook, has focused on the transfer of methodologies and approaches to build capacities in national and international collaborating centres and intergovernmental organizations. This form of targeted capacity building could be expanded and used to good effect at both the national and sub-regional level to support national councils of sustainable development. As mandated by the General Assembly and Agenda 21, UNEP continues to provide developing countries and countries with economies in transition with policy, legal and technical advisory services in key areas of institution-building in the field of environment aiming at sustainable development. More than 100 countries have received such advisory services since the Rio Summit.

152. A number of development assistance agencies have developed programmes for assisting countries in the formulation of broad development policy frameworks and strategies. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) approach, based on Common Country Assessments (CCA), is one effort to bring greater coherence to United Nations programmes of assistance at the country level. Other international organizations have launched initiatives to assist developing countries in the formulation and implementation of national sustainable development strategies through partnership arrangements.

B. Implementing International Legal Instruments

153. International organizational and legal changes since 1992 have been substantial and represent an area of real progress in pursuing the goals of Agenda 21 and other UNCED outcomes. A number of new legal instruments, conventions and protocols have been negotiated, signed and ratified since 1992. These conventions, along with a variety of non-binding international instruments and mechanisms concluded after UNCED⁵⁰ have amplified the international legal framework supporting sustainable development.⁵¹ However, the creation or adaptation of the national level legal and institutional framework needed to implement these agreements has been difficult, costly and time-consuming. While countries must comply with an increased number of treaty obligations, there is often a lack of coordination and integration in meeting the obligations. Moreover, in many cases the work is not linked directly with economic and trade policies and financing strategies. All of the regional inter-governmental Preparatory Committee meetings for WSSD have called for effective implementation of international agreements dealing with sustainable development.
 

154. At the national level, law related to sustainable development has followed two general directions. One is to further develop legislation on sectoral environmental and environment-related issues by adding regulatory instruments with well-defined requirements. The other is to re-focus policies to better integrate fragmented sectoral laws and regulations into a coherent framework of law, or to streamline and harmonize the regulatory requirements under separate laws and regulations. However, the absence of a framework of national laws and regulations, policy guidelines and institutional arrangements that effectively support sustainable development remains a serious gap in most countries. Addressing these problems requires legislative reform in many cases. Such reform, however, requires a strong cadre of people trained in law and institutional issues and well versed in the cross-sectoral demands of sustainable development. Few developing countries possess the trained staff needed to meet these challenges.

155. The global and regional conventions embody international commitments which shape national actions and the country-level activities of international agencies. More broadly, the conventions, by defining both general and detailed objectives, provide a framework for focusing policy development, programme delivery, \research, and data collection and analysis.

156. The complexity of international binding and non-binding instruments addressing inter-related environmental issues and their global consequences requires integrated approaches in policy formulation and implementation at both national and international levels. This cuts across the traditional institutional boundaries. The lack of effective coordination often translates into a gap between the adoption of international environmental instruments and their effective implementation.
 

157. Since UNCED, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has emerged as an important financial instrument to facilitate the implementation of the "Rio Conventions". Through grants and low-interest loans to developing countries and economies in transition, GEF helps to fund national, regional and global projects that benefit at least one of four central aspects of the world's environment -- climate change, biological diversity, the ozone layer and international waters – as well as local economies and societies. The GEF contribution, however, is limited to the incremental costs incurred when, for example, a country's efforts to promote energy or resource development also bring global environmental benefits. GEF has also supported measures related to land degradation, particularly for combatting desertification and deforestation.

C. Information for Decision-Making

158. New information technologies are changing the ground rules for information flows, permitting more decentralized and locally adapted forms of information management and expanding the scope of public participation in decision-making.
 

159. New avenues have been opened for preparing and presenting information in formats more easily understood by decision makers and the general public. Multimedia technologies, software packages, and tools such as indicators are assisting decision makers in their sustainable development efforts.

160. Major initiatives have been launched to improve environmental observations and data collection, ranging from ozone monitoring under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and implementation of the Global Observing Systems to monitoring of forests and coral reefs by non-governmental organizations.
 

161. Significant progress has been made both internationally and nationally in the development of indicators as tools to support national decision-making. The CSD Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development has been one example. ECOSOC, for its part, has initiated efforts to harmonize and rationalize basic indicators. Considering these and other efforts to develop indicators in various fields, the UN Statistical Commission has commissioned a technical review of all conference indicators and is working on proposals for a limited set of such indicators. The follow-up process to the Millennium Declaration has also led to proposals for a set of key indicators. A number of regional WSSD meetings have emphasized the importance of national, regional and international development and implementation of indicators of sustainable development. Countries with similar forest conditions have come together in nine regional processes on criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management, involving some 150 countries representing 85 per cent of the world's forests. These forest indicator processes have now been on going for over 8 years and are well advanced in developing and using indicators at the national as well as at the forest management unit level.

162. Earth observation from space is a valuable technological tool for understanding the Earth. Such observations have provided long-term consistent measurements of key variables for studying the state and variability of Earth's ecosystems. The observations provide a basis for rational action at the global, regional, national and local levels. Global phenomena such as the greenhouse effect and El Niño jostle for attention with regional problems such as acid rain and local problems such as deforestation and soil erosion. Satellite remote sensing has provided vital information on environmental impacts, quantity and quality of resources, and inputs for integrated development planning for both rural and urban areas. The launching of more than 230 instruments on over 70 satellites over the next 10 to 15 years with calibrated sensors providing a wide variety of data provides an opportunity for scientists to understand the complex interactions between various components of the Earth system.

163. The rapid and continuing progress in information and communication technologies has amplified the importance of closing the “digital divide” between the “haves” and “have nots” in the information revolution and the importance of educating users of the new technologies to enable them to translate data into information and information into knowledge. Those parts of the world without the infrastructure to connect to the new global information and communication networks, and those people without access to education in the new technologies, are being left behind. The importance of closing the digital divide is particularly urge