that included 27 principles to guide that effort. The
UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)
was established by the UN General Assembly in De-
cember 1992 to ensure effective follow up of the Earth
Summit.
The momentum of the Rio Earth Summit was
maintained nationally through Executive Order
12852, establishing the President’s Council on Sus-
tainable Development (PCSD), which existed for six
years between June 1993 and June 1999. The PCSD
was chartered to:
- Develop and recommend a national sustain-
able development strategy that would foster
economic vitality - Advise the President on domestic implemen-
tation of policy options to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions without debating the science of
global warming - Advise the President on policies and approach-
es that promote “sustainable communities” - Advise the President on policies that foster U.S.
leadership in sustainable development interna-
tionally
Subsequent international conferences, including
the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, have reaf-
firmed the concept and commitment to sustainable
development. The focus of the WSSD was on imple-
mentation of the Earth Summit agreements that were
addressed in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementa-
tion (JPOI), which included targets and timelines to
achieve specific results by stated dates. Some of these
targets and timetables reaffirm commitments that
were previously agreed to in the UN General Assem-
bly’s Millennium Declaration in 2000.