Program of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro (1992-2006) in which all the essential policies of an ecologically harmless and sustainable development are addressed. The action program holds for both industrial and developing countries. It contains important guidelines concerning, among others, poverty reduction, population growth, trade and environmental issues, policies regarding waste, chemicals, the climate, energy and agriculture, as well as the financial and technological collaboration of the industrial and developing countries. The “Agenda 21” is supposed to be realized in national action plans in as many industrial and developing countries as possible.
With regard to the bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the area of developmental politics, the German Federal Government uses the “Agenda 21” as a guideline.
For all areas of daily life, the Agenda 21 - the action program for the forthcoming century - contains goals and procedures for the formation and protection of an environment which is worth living in, for current and for future generations. Not only the international community of states, but also every single nation with all their levels of divisions, are requested to assume responsibility for the improvement of the global community’s living conditions and to become active in the pursuit of this responsibility. The following dimensions of a sustainable development are essential:
- social and economical aspects
- preservation and management of resources
The word “Agenda“ is a Latin term signifying “what we need to do“. For “Agenda 21”, the notion of “sustainable development”, oftentimes rendered as “the competence for mastering the future”, is of particular importance. Sustainable economic management demands a conservative use of natural resources so that future generations will find an adequate natural basis of life. In addition, sustainability takes the needs of the people living today into consideration, including social and economical aspects.
