The principles articulated at the 1992 Earth Summit and in the action plan for their realization—Agenda 21—guided the activities and initiatives of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The Commission reported back to the General Assembly, which passed the resolutions required to work towards sustainable development goals. Ten years later, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (26 August–4 September, Johannesburg, South Africa) took place. Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyotaka Akasaka participated as a delegate.
International cooperation and mutual responsibility
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, as described in the 2002 Yearbook of the United Nations (p. 821), culminated in the adoption of the Johannesburg Declaration and a plan of implementation outlining priority activities, targets and timetables for stepping-up implementation of Agenda 21 and other internationally agreed goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The plan of implementation identified five priority areas, including agriculture, biodiversity, and access to proper water, sanitation, energy and health.
In 2001, Kiyo was a Member of the Bureau of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which acted as the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit. He had just been appointed Consul-General of Japan to Sao Paulo, Brazil, following a diplomatic career in the areas of trade, health and climate change, including as a negotiator at the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change in 1997.
The Summit, Kiyo believes, was “a great success because it agreed on the plan of implementation and the Declaration.” The Johannesburg Declaration reaffirmed the commitments of participating States to three pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social development and environmental protection. It also recognized the need for more effective, democratic and accountable international and multilateral institutions in order to achieve key sustainable development goals (see YUN 2002, pp. 821–22).
“Throughout the long process to prepare for the Summit,” Kiyo recalls, “the most difficult issues we encountered were energy, oceans, and water and sanitation. They were meant to be settled in advance at the preparatory meetings, so that leaders would only need to finalize the agreement. Instead, many issues were taken unsettled to the Summit. Water and sanitation targets, as included in the MDGs, for example, were only agreed upon at the very end, through what proved to be very difficult negotiations.”
In his opening address at the 2002 World Summit, Secretary-General Kofi Annan commented that the word ‘responsibility’ embodied everything the Summit hoped to achieve. “Responsibility for each other—but especially the poor, the vulnerable, and the oppressed—as fellow members of a single human family. Responsibility for our planet, whose bounty is the very basis for human well-being and progress. And most of all, responsibility for the future—for our children, and their children.” “This Summit,” the Secretary-General continued, “like its landmark predecessors in Stockholm [Sweden, 1972] and Rio de Janeiro [Brazil, 1992], focuses on a key component of that blueprint: the relationship between human being and the natural environment.” The Secretary-General said he hoped the Summit marked a new chapter for the world, “a chapter of responsibility, partnership and implementation” (YUN 2002 p. 821). Those elements were intended to guide development work over the coming years.
Outlook on Rio+20
On the subject of Rio+20, Kiyo anticipates that, once again, there will be some difficulties. “There are proposals for a set of indicators, a global report, an institutional framework, means of implementation … The issue of commitments by developed countries to provide financial assistance will be very thorny. Again, we can expect tough negotiations.” Nevertheless, his outlook is positive. “Rio+20 will be a gigantic gathering of everyone interested in sustainable development. It may not be easy to manage, but I am confident that the United Nations can do the job. We have lessons learned and best practices, and I expect that the preparatory process is aiming at an advance consensus that will liberate the world’s leaders to finalize their agreement.”
