Aside from its size, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg is a touchstone that indicates how serious the international community is about reconciling its needs with the world's limited resources. It is billed as the largest United Nations gathering in history.
Nations are taking stock of new efforts to achieve sustainability following those articulated at the 1992 U.N. Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The rocky runup of summit preparatory meetings has cast a pall over the event, however, and if it ends in failure it could sap what little inertia remains from the Rio Earth Summit. At a time when optimism is ebbing, the need for a clear commitment to action is more salient than ever.
Rio's numerous accomplishments -- the adoption of climate-change and biodiversity treaties and Agenda 21, an action plan for sustainable development -- boosted hope that governments and societies were about to turn the corner on sustainable development.