The Earth Summit:The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)

The United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development brought over 100 governments together in Rio de Janeiro (3-14 June 1992) to agree action and legal bases for the future protection of the environment. This text elucidates the UNCED process and the Conference itself by assembling the key documents, including the final version of Agenda 21, and using them to recount how UNCED began, developed and finally, in Rio, came to fruition. Each document is preceded by analytical commentary, and a comprehensive index has been included.