ABSTRACT
As demonstrated in earlier editions of this Yearbook, the road from declarations to implementation of sustainable development can be long, unpredictable, and frustrating. Sometimes there is reason to suspect that not all governments have been equally happy about the outcome of a conference and that some have quietly entertained hopes that the rhetoric would soon fade away. On many occasions, however, most governments are probably sincere in their wishes to seek international solutions to a given environment and development problem, but they do not foresee the difficulties that arise in the follow-up process.
