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ORIGIN OF SUSTAINABILITY: AGENDA 21

AGENDA 21

INTRODUCTION:

Sustainable development has been defined in

many ways, but the most frequently quoted
definition is from Our Common Future, also
known as the Brundtland Report:

"Sustainable development is development http://www.ursa.com/en-

that meets the needs of the present without us/drivingsustainability/pages/global-need-
compromising the ability of future for-sustainable-development.aspx
generations to meet their own needs. It
contains within it two key concepts:

the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's

poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social
organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future
needs."

UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development is the action plan implemented

worldwide to inventory and control all land, all water, all minerals, all plants,
all animals, all construction, all means of production, all energy, all
education, all information, and all human beings in the world. INVENTORY
AND CONTROL.
----Rosa Koire
Agenda 21 was the set of goals which were set
to make Earth Sustainable by the beginning of
21 century.Lets know How the Agenda 21 was
brought into place and what favoured its
evolution.

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ORIGIN OF SUSTAINABILITY: AGENDA 21

1 I. Evolution of Agenda 21: Journey to Sustainable Development

A. Ramsar Convention (1971)

There were a number of International Environmental Agreements (IEAs)
which came before Agenda 21. Of the 1131 listed Agreements and
Modifications, lets know a few significant ones before Agenda 21, starting
with the 1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Convention on Wetlands
of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat). It is also said
that the seed agreement for Agenda 21 was Ramsar.
The movement behind Agenda 21 has a long history and isnt limited to the
1992 Rio Earth Summit. It began in 1971 with the Ramsar Convention On
Wetlands, a treaty which was later put into force in 1975 and adopted by
the United States in 1987. Ramsar is not officially affiliated with the United
Nations, however, it works with the United Nations and many UN
accredited NGOs.

B. Earth Summit (1972)

The entire history of the Earth Summit, from Stockholm in 1972 to Rio in
1992, is one of socialist conniving and conspiring against basic, God-given
economic and political rights. The first Earth Summit, the United Nations
Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, Sweden, was
hosted by Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, a member of the Socialist
International. Out of that summit came a socialist-environmentalist
manifesto called the Stockholm Declaration and the Stockholm Plan of
Action.
The World Health Organization should promote and intensify research
endeavor in the field of human reproduction, so that the serious
consequences of population explosion on human environment can be
prevented. This was more emphasized in the 1972 Earth Summit.

2 C. United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (1973)

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ORIGIN OF SUSTAINABILITY: AGENDA 21

The actual mission of UNEP as stated was:

To provide leadership and encourage partnership
in caring for the environment by inspiring,
informing, and enabling nations and peoples to
improve their quality of life without compromising
that of future generations.
The UNEP report, known as Global Environment
Outlook: Environment for Development (GEO-4),
covers not just global warming. It covers all
dimensions of environmental deterioration that UNEP
claims are imminently putting humanity at risk. The
report warns that we are in mortal danger of passing unknown points of no
return on climate change, the rate of extinction of species, loss of fertile
land through degradation, unsustainable pressure on resources and the
challenge of feeding a growing population. The report places primary blame
on over-population and the the rising consumption of the rich. The
solution requires fundamental changes in social and economic structures,
including lifestyle changes.
D. United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat I) (1976)
The Habitat I agreement was ostensibly about human living space, but
really sought to control ownership of land.
Land is an essential element in development of both urban and rural
settlements. The use and tenure of land should be subject to public
controlLandcannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by
individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market.
The provision of decent dwellings and healthy conditions for the people can
only be achieved if land is used in the interests of society as a whole.
Public control of land use is therefore indispensable.
The 65-page socialist document released from the Conference on Human
Settlements (1976) declared private land ownership and wealth as primary
reasons for social injustice. Its recommendations that were later
incorporated in UN Agenda 21 are:

Redistribution of population according to resources

Government control of land use in order to achieve equitable
distribution of resources
Land use control through zoning and planning

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ORIGIN OF SUSTAINABILITY: AGENDA 21

Government control of excessive profits from land use

Urban and rural land control through public land ownership
Developing rights must be held by public authorities

3 E. World Commission on Environment and Development

(Brundtland Commission) (1983)
The Bruntland Commission called for a meeting to promote sustainable
growth, named after the Chairman, Gro Harlem Brundtland, a socialist from
Norway. This became the Agenda 21 conference of 1992, a meeting of the
Earth Summit in Rio de Janero, Brazil. The commission boasted 21
representatives from 21 countries.
Strong, a socialist, senior adviser to the Commission on Global
Governance was the driving force behind promoting the concept of
sustainability, said when introducing the ternat the 1992 Rio Conference
(Earth Summit II):
It is clear that current lifestyles and consumption pattern of the affluent
middle classinvolving high meat intake, consumption of large amounts of
frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and
work-place air-conditioning and suburban
housingare not sustainable. A shift is
necessary toward lifestyles less geared to
environmentally damaging consumption
patterns.

4 Earth Summit II (1992)

The Rio Earth Summit produced several
documents including: The Rio Declaration http://www.slideshare.net/slides_eo
Statement on Forest Principles; UN i/40-years-of-international-
sustainability-governance-by-arthur-
Framework Convention on Climate
lyon-dahl
Change (UNFCCC); UN Convention on
Biological Diversity (UNCBD); and Agenda
21. But Earth Summit II had a core of socialism:
The UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) which met in
Istanbul, painted an alarming picture of the 21st century community. The
American ways-free speech, individualism, travel, and Christianity-are out.

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ORIGIN OF SUSTAINABILITY: AGENDA 21

A new set of economic, environmental, and social guidelines are in.

Citizenship, democracy, and education have been redefined
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is the innocuously named 40 part United
Nations to help promote global sustainable
development. The Agenda was later ratified by the
US House in the October 2, 1992 session, as HC
353, a resolution calling for the U.S. to assume a
strong leadership role in implementing the
sustainable development recommendations of the
Rio Earth Summit including Agenda 21. Agenda 21
encapsulates a truly awe-inspiring list of leftist
shibboleths.
On 22 December 1989, the United Nations General
Assembly called for a global meeting that
would devise strategies to halt and reverse the
effects of environmental degradation in the context
of increased national and international efforts to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agen
promote sustainable and environmentally sound da_21
development in all countries.
Underlying Agenda 21 is the notion that humanity has reached a defining
moment in its history. We can continue our present policies which serve to
deepen the economic divisions within and between countries; which
increase poverty, hunger, sickness and illiteracy worldwide; and which are
causing the continued deterioration of the ecosystem on which we depend
for life on Earth.
Or we can change course. We can improve the living standards of those
who are in need. We can better manage and protect the ecosystem and
bring about a more prosperous future for us all. No nation can achieve this
on its own, states Mr. Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the
Conference, in the preamble to Agenda 21. Together we can in a global
partnership for sustainable development.
IV. Analysis of Agenda 21
There are 27 Principles, and 40 chapters which comprise the Agenda 21
Manifesto. The tenor of all these are summed up as a call for international
government which defers to poorer states at the cost of richer ones, as
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ORIGIN OF SUSTAINABILITY: AGENDA 21

human populations are reduced to save the environment while private

property rights are canceled.
Agenda 21 is the global blueprint for changing the way we live, eat, learn
and communicate because we must save the earth It consists of 115
specific programs designed to facilitate, or to force, the transition to
Sustainable Development. The objective, clearly enunciated by the leaders
of the Earth Summit, is to bring about a change in the present system of
independent nations. Agenda 21 is broken into 8 sections: Agriculture;
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management; Education; Energy and
Housing; Population; Public Health; Resources and Recycling;
Transportation, Sustainable Economic Development.
Governments take control of all land use

Decision making NOT in the hands of private property owners

Individual rights give way to the needs of communities
Needs of the community determined by the governing body
People packed into human settlements, islands of human habitation,
close to employment centers, and transportation
Wildlands Project tells how most of the land is to be set aside for non-
humans

CONCLUSION:

The wiff of socialism is strong in Agenda 21. First is the doctrinaire, self-
righteous tone of the elites scorning the ignorant capitalists who destroy the
earth and the poor. Second is the staggering ignorance which claims global
lands would be better organized by bureaucrats. Third, the claim that the
rich owe the poor their wealthwhich is the central idea of Marxism. And
fourth, that the earth is unstable because of capitalism and progressives
must battle to save our planet or we are all doomed. Agenda 21 will be as
successful as the passenger pigeon in advancing sustainable growth.

The Goal of Agenda 21 was to make all the countries favourable to

sustainable development by the beginning of 21st century. But this was not
the case and now at present we are at Agenda 2030 to attain all the
Sustainable Development Goals [SDG(s)] by the year 2030. But all the
countries are making slow progress in implementing the plans of Agenda
2030 and we can hope that Earth becomes a better place for all the living
beings.

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ORIGIN OF SUSTAINABILITY: AGENDA 21

Last by the moto of Agenda 21 Everyone is a user, and every user is a

provider

REFERENCES:

http://canadafreepress.com/article/a-brief-history-amp-description-of-
agenda-21#
http://www.iisd.org/topic/sustainable-development

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