Book Description

This unparalleled resource sets forth the international community's blueprint for worldwide development. Here is one reference source for all of the action plans negotiated since the United Nations' historic "Earth Summit" in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro that established the global and regional priorities necessary to sustain environmentally sound economic and social development. Expert commentary and annotations on the implications - both opportunities for investment and concerns about changes in regulatory regimes - of these international legal policy decisions is featured here. This is the only resource integrating implementation strategies with the Agenda 21 directives, complete with analytical commentary and annotations. This comprehensive work provides expert guidance to the legal instruments framing the strategic objectives for sustainable development. It includes full coverage of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, adopted at the UN World Summit for Sustainable Development (2002), which set the priorities for implementing Agenda 21, the action plan that was adopted at the U.N. Summit for Environment and Development a decade earlier. Here also are the strategic measures for financing these strategic objectives, negotiated at the summit meeting in Monterrey, Mexico. Taken together, these legal instruments comprise the current international action plan that guides the multilateral, bilateral, and national economic development agendas around the world. This invaluable reference is essential for those involved in international trade law, since free trade agreements now contain provisions that mandate negotiations to harmonize environmental and social regulations. Similarly, these agreed policies guide the international programs of the World Bank, regional development banks, and regional integration pacts such as the European Union or the Association of South East Asian Nations. Coverage includes: - Evolving Delivery Mechanisms for a Clear & Urgent Mission (Commentary by Nicholas A. Robinson) - Agenda 21 - Annotated Action Plan - Johannesburg Plan of Implementation - Monterrey Financing Plan - Policy Resolutions and Implementing Measures - Valuable references to Internet sources for national reports submitted to the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development.