ABSTRACT
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) produced and adopted by consensus Agenda 21, an outline of what nations and international organizations agreed to do to protect the environment and promote sustainable development in the developing world. Agenda 21 created an expectation of North-South partnership that is critical to the achievement of protecting the global environment and minimizing the environmental impact of economic growth. Agenda 21 emphasizes that all nations and all people have a responsibility to pursue the idea of sustainable development but gives particular responsibility to the United Nations system. Agenda 21 was conceived as a plan of action to be pursued at all levels of government to give concrete expression to the idea of sustainable development. Some critical indicators of natural resource use and pollution production show the daunting challenges in achieving Agenda 21’s goals. Agenda 21 and UNCED spawned a number of institutional changes.
