Archive | 30 years ago the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro

The Rio de Janeiro Summit to Save the Earth took place 30 years ago.

From June 3 to 14, 1992, the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some of our archives recall the objectives of this meeting and its impact on the protection of the environment.

“The largest gathering of political leaders in the history of the planet opened today in Rio. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, warned his participants that the Earth is sick with the underdevelopment suffered by the poorest. Sick also of the excessive development of the rich which destroys the environment. »

— Bernard Derome, host of Téléjournal, June 3, 1992

From June 3 to 14, 1992, the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil hosted the Planet Earth Summit.

This summit is held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the first Conference on the human environment, in Stockholm, Sweden, from 1972.

It constitutes a major international event with its 178 participating countries and thousands of scientists, representatives of non-governmental organizations and media.

Report by Special Envoy Jacques Rivard on the opening of the Planet Earth Conference in Rio de Janeiro

Our special envoy Jacques Rivard reports to theTéléjournal of June 3, 1992, through declarations by certain leaders, of the commitments that should be made at the Rio Summit.

The observation of the president of the conference, the Canadian Maurice Strong, is almost brutally frank.

The human species, he asserts, is out of control.

Our unbridled development will destroy the planet and our civilization, he continues.

Our mode of economic development must be reviewed and population growth stabilized.

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, pleads for his part in order that it is imperative to convert part of the military expenditure towards sustainable development projects.

One ​​of the pioneers of the concept of sustainable development, the Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland, calls on rich countries to spend an additional 10 billion dollars to combat development problems.

The Rio Summit also confirms that several more billions of dollars will be needed to improve the world's environment.

However, at this summit, recalls Jacques Rivard, we could not agree on who should pay this sum.

“The post-Rio man must also love the world. He must love flowers, birds, trees. All this natural environment that we regularly destroy. »

— Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Did the summit participants heed the exhortation to protect the environment issued by the Secretary General of the United Nations?

Report by Special Envoy Jacques on the closure of the Planet Earth Conference in Rio de Janeiro

< p class="e-p">On June 14, 1992, our special correspondent, Jacques Rivard, presented to Téléjournal an assessment of the Planet Earth Summit in Rio.

The positive aspect is that three conventions are adopted by 153 countries participating in the meeting.

The first deals with biological diversity.

The second tackles the scourge of desertification.

The third is a framework convention to combat the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.

A declaration on the protection is also approved.

Jacques Rivard also notes certain failures during the Rio Summit.

For example, the United States and Canada are disappointed that only a declaration on the protection of forests has been adopted.

The objection of developing countries, fearing for their sovereignty, prevented going further.

Moreover, none of the industrialized nations, except France, agreed to devote 0.7% of its gross domestic product to development efforts.

This commitment was, however, a pillar vital part of Agenda 21 endorsed at the Rio Summit.

In this context, it is hardly surprising that the evaluation of the participants of the event is so mixed.

The former Premier of Quebec, Pierre Marc Johnson, is rather optimistic.

He believes that mechanisms have been put in place to move forward, particularly at the economic level.

Jim McNeil, adviser to Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, has a completely different view.

Deforestation and global warming will continue at the same pace despite the Rio Summit, he laments.

Interview with the President of the Rio de Janeiro Conference Maurice Strong who takes stock five years after its holding.

On June 25, 1997, the host of the program Le Point, Achille Michaud, interviewed the President of the Rio Summit, Maurice Strong, to obtain its record five years after the conference was held.

His evaluation is rather negative.

The various problems plaguing our ecosystems are far from being resolved.

While there has been some progress since Rio, the environment has deteriorated globally, argues the diplomat.

National governments are slower to act than many citizens, municipalities and business sectors.

Maurice Strong acknowledges, moreover, that Canada has failed to honor its commitments made in Brazil.

It does not is not the only culprit, he remarks.

Most of the other most industrialized nations have also failed to meet the goals they set themselves at the Rio Summit.

The diplomat, however, displays a certain optimism. Some elements are encouraging, according to Maurice Strong.

Young generations intuitively understand that their future is linked to that of the good health of the Earth's environment.

We must renew our commitments to the planet and remind our leaders that we are counting on theirs, concludes the diplomat.

The Rio Summit was followed by several other international meetings during which governments tried, with varying degrees of success, to coordinate efforts to avoid the worst for our planet.

Like Rio, these summits raised both a lot of hope and a lot of disappointment.

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