Which countries signed agenda 21

Consider the problem of famine. To predict famine and make plans to minimize its impact on humans it is useful to have information on land cover including crop type, biomass, and leaf-area-index , precipitation recent and predicted , soil moisture recent and predicted , population distribution, transportation infrastructure to deliver food relief or relocate people , and political boundaries to help address politically sensitive issues.

These types of data are used in famine decision-support systems such as the Famine Early Warning System Chapters 3 and 7. Similarly, consider deforestation and biodiversity assessment e. Both issue applications require information including population distribution to identify the likelihood for forest-cover or biodiversity changes due to selective harvesting of forest resources or other agricultural practices , land use and cadastral information, land cover to reveal the historical and current geographic distribution of rangeland or forest cover, in part as a surrogate for habitat in biodiversity applications , elevation distribution to provide insight into watershed runoff, soil erosion, and habitat carrying capacity , and transportation infrastructure to indicate new tertiary roads that provide access to forests and enable deforestation and habitat fragmentation.

When these types of geographic information are modeled in conjunction with in situ faunal information it becomes possible to assess biodiversity Savitsky and Lacher, It is evident from the overlap in data needs to address biodiversity, deforestation, and famine that the same fundamental geographic information may be used in more than one issue application.

Thus, this report concentrates on fundamental geographic data Chapters 5 and 6 that provide. Biodiversity is the biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals Merriam-Webster, People everywhere depend on functioning natural ecosystems for their survival.

Population growth, the clearing of wildlands, and overuse of pesticides and fertilizers are among the principal causes of loss of biodiversity in developing countries Wilson, Poverty, social conflict, and disease are among the results of environmental despoliation. The economic and social benefits of biodiversity range from discovering new sources of pharmaceuticals to enhancing tourism.

Coastal areas in Kenya and Tanzania Chapter 8 gain economically from aquaculture, tourism, and disaster protection. Conservancies in Namibia also benefit through tourism. Their use of geographic information for wildlife management Chapter 7 promotes equitable land use and tourism potential. The Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Biodiversity Forum convened representatives from the public, private, and non-profit sectors in Mombasa, Kenya, in to discuss using biodiversity to strengthen livelihoods Emerton and Maganya, Representatives from more than 20 countries identified four major conclusions:.

Investment from private industry offers a valuable, underused means of protecting biodiversity and promoting the equitable sharing of resources;. There is urgent need for better cooperation between the public and private sectors on biotechnology research in agriculture; and.

Geographic information including social, economic, and environmental data from the local, national, and regional levels can support these goals. Agenda 21 is being implemented worldwide at all scales and in all sectors, but progress has not been as rapid as anticipated at the UNCED in The use of geographic data and related technologies will help overcome a number of implementation challenges, in particular the traditional fragmented approach toward sustainable development.

In Africa, organizational frameworks and coordination will enhance the use of these data and technologies. The next chapter illustrates activities in Africa that are already using geographic data. Brooner, W. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 68 3 Dernbach, J. Environmental Law Reporter 32 1 Dorm-Adzobu, C. Accessed June 25, Edwards, T. Homer, S. Bassett, A. Falconer, R. Ramsey, and D. Emerton, L. Maganya eds. Accessed July 8, Overview: What the Framework Approach Involves.

Accessed April 24, Nebert, ed. Accessed June 28, Juma, C. The global sustainability challenge: from agreement to action. Lake, R. Contradictions at the local scale: local implementation of Agenda 21 in the USA. Low, B. Bleeson, I. Elander, and R. Lidskog, eds. London: Routledge. Merriam-Webster Pocket Dictionary.

MerriamWebster: Springfield, MA. Accessed May 20, Accessed May 29, Savitsky, B. Lacher, Jr. New York: Columbia University Press. UN United Nations. Accessed April 14, Rio de Janeiro: UN. Global Environmental Outlook London: Earthscan. Case studies. Our Common Future. New York: Oxford University Press. In , world leaders adopted Agenda 21, the work program of the U. Conference on Environment and Development.

This landmark event provided a political foundation and action items to facilitate the global transition toward sustainable development. The international community marked the tenth anniversary of this conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August Down to Earth , a component of the U.

State Department's "Geographic Information for Sustainable Development" project for the World Summit, focuses on sub-Saharan Africa with examples drawn from case-study regions where the U. Agency for International Development and other agencies have broad experience. Although African countries are the geographic focus of the study, the report has broader applicability.

Down to Earth summarizes the importance and applicability of geographic data for sustainable development and draws on experiences in African countries to examine how future sources and applications of geographic data could provide reliable support to decision-makers as they work towards sustainable development. The committee emphasizes the potential of new technologies, such as satellite remote-sensing systems and geographic information systems, that have revolutionized data collection and analysis over the last decade.

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Global Challenges in Implementing Agenda Page 21 Share Cite. Page 22 Share Cite. The latter is subject to each country's commitment. Similarly, Beirich described Agenda 21 as a "perfectly sensible planning paper, a nonbinding statement of intent aimed at dealing with sustainability on an increasingly crowded planet," in her conspiracy theory report for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

A claim suggesting the UN's Agenda 21 and the Agenda for Sustainable Development will establish "one world government" has been debunked by experts. A representative from the UN said that the agenda is not a genuine agency document. Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Facebook Twitter Email. Fact check: U.

Show Caption. Hide Caption. A one-world order. Remarkably, there is also some opposition to Agenda 21 from the left, notably in the form of Democrats Against UN Agenda The group, which hosted a major conference on the plan in , is led by self-described lesbian feminist Rosa Koire, who came to the issue through battles over zoning in Santa Rosa, Calif. Koire, who wrote the popular book Behind the Green Mask: U. Agenda 21, claims the plan will ultimately bring on the economic collapse of the U.

Perhaps the most effective purveyor of the Agenda 21 conspiracy theory has been Glenn Beck, especially before he left Fox News in mid In , Beck went further, publishing a dystopic novel with co-author Harriet Parke called Agenda It purports to tell a post-Agenda 21 tale of America, a place where the beleaguered heroine is confined to a depressing apartment in a planned community, spending her days treading on a special pad to produce energy.

In this world, children are taken from parents and raised in group homes, mating partners are assigned, and people recite pledges in honor of squirrels. Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty. On the Ground In this era of extreme political polarization, politicians with relatively large followings have jumped on the Agenda 21 bandwagon, simultaneously demonizing environmentalism, the United Nations and any kind of global planning.

Introducing anti-Agenda 21 legislation that ultimately failed, Oklahoma state Sen. Sally Kern R , already infamous for her wild-eyed anti-gay commentaries, said that the plan would destroy American property rights and result in a ban on cars powered by fossil fuel. Arizona state Sen. Around the same time, after a debate about raising sales taxes to pay for transportation improvements, state Sen.

In Missouri, legislators cut funding for the Department of Motor Vehicles after it came to light that it had turned over a list of , residents with conceal-carry permits to federal investigators. The move followed testimony to lawmakers from Melissa Wilson, wife of state Rep. With Agenda 21, I will be someone who will be put on a watch list. In Albemarle County, Va.

And in Naperville, Ill. Opponents of the smart meters claimed without evidence that they were linked to illness and cyberwarfare, and endanger property rights and liberty in general. There are almost too many of these kinds of encounters to count.

But the most dramatic action — outdoing states like Kansas, New Hampshire and Tennessee, which all passed resolutions condemning Agenda 21 — came in Alabama. There, on May 16, , after just a few minutes of debate, legislators voted unanimously for Republican state Sen. What does seem clear is that the world is growing more complex and facing more challenges that really do require serious advance planning.

Despite the barrage of anti-science propaganda, there is virtually no doubt among climate scientists and others that we face huge challenges related to climate change, rising oceans, and resulting disastrous weather events — challenges that it seems certain can only be effectively met by multinational action. In addition, there are major challenges related to population growth and shifts in concentrations of people. There has been something of a backlash to the anti-Agenda 21 movement.

In , for instance, an anti-sustainable development bill was killed in Arizona after the state Chamber of Commerce lobbied against it, saying it could drive away firms with sustainable development plans, according to the Huffington Post.

Joseph McCarthy, according to the Post. That may well be. But an enormous number of politicians, commentators, activists, conspiracy theorists and others have swallowed the story of the anti-Agenda 21 zealots, making any kind of rational discussion of the environment and related issues extremely difficult. And that is the basic problem. Dealing with the serious problems that confront our nation and our planet becomes incredibly difficult when the public discussion is poisoned with groundless conspiracy theories.

Nevertheless, in the hands of a dedicated cadre of far-right conspiracy theorists, it has been depicted as a key step in a secret plan to destroy property rights, redistribute wealth and, ultimately, force the United States and other countries in a tyrannical, one-world government in which bicycle paths and wildlife refuges will be vastly more important than human beings.

What follows are brief portraits of 11 of the leading anti-Agenda 21 groups and their leaders. So meaningful. The Constitution Party was founded in as the U. Taxpayers Party by the late Howard Phillips, who ran for president three times without ever gaining more than 0. The party, which at one point absorbed the American Independent Party the vehicle for segregationist Alabama Gov. The plan has been repeatedly denounced at the local level by the Constitution Party as well.

That antagonism to centralized power made the tough-talking Mack, who was once the public relations director for the extremist group Gun Owners of America, a natural adherent to ideas about the supposedly nefarious nature of Agenda The sheriffs reiterated complaints, fairly common in the West, about the large proportion of land controlled by the federal government and logging, mineral extraction and grazing rights on public lands, and related them to Agenda 21 and its alleged attack on private property rights in America.

In June , the organization held a similar session during its second annual conference. The Declaration Alliance was founded in by three-time presidential candidate and former U. Keyes first came out against Agenda 21 in a blog post that charged that the government was allowing the UN to take over American treasures by designating them World Heritage Sites.

The organization is not solely focused on Agenda 21, although sustainable development and its alleged perils are discussed. Nita Still, a Montague, Calif. The vast majority of opponents of Agenda 21 come from the right, mostly the far right. But in the case of Rosa Koire pronounced CORE-ee , a self-described lesbian feminist and longtime forensic commercial real estate appraiser specializing in eminent domain evaluation, the criticism is ostensibly coming from the left.

She also claims that the Democratic Party has been hijacked by socialists. After that, Koire sounds like most Agenda 21 fearmongers. Koire authored a book, Behind the Green Mask: U. The group has long been involved in a wide array of highly conservative causes, many of them having to do with with women and the family — opposition to abortion, sex education in public schools, working mothers and feminism in general.

It also favors English as our official language, assimilation of immigrants, and the right to bear arms. Finally, it opposes international oversight by the United Nations. In that vein, the Eagle Forum came out relatively recently against Agenda 21, forming the Agenda 21 Task Force to lead the battle. Michael Coffman founded Environmental Perspectives Inc. It is to establish global governance and abandon the principles of natural law.

Jim DeMint R-S. That year, it described the UN plan as being part of a vast power grab. A paper published by the foundation in , authored by Wendell Cox, Ronald D. Utt and Brett D. Shortly after founding the John Birch Society JBS in , wealthy businessman Robert Welch set the tone for his archconservative organization for decades to come when he accused his fellow Republican, President Dwight Eisenhower, of being a commie patsy.