Johannesburg Declaration: A human global society

The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development was adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), sometimes referred to as Earth Summit 2002. The Johannesburg Declaration builds on the earlier declarations from the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm in 1972 (Brundtland Report) and the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (Rio Declaration). While committing the nations of the world to sustainable development, it also includes substantial mention of multilateralism as the path forward.

The Johannesburg Declaration is a more general statement than the Rio Declaration in terms of the political commitment of parties. The agreement focuses in particular on the worldwide conditions of people that pose severe threats to sustainable development. This covers: Hunger, malnutrition, foreign occupation, armed conflict, illicit drug problems, organized crime, corruption, natural disasters, illicit arms trafficking, trafficking in persons, terrorism, intolerance and incitement to racial, ethnic, religious and other hatreds, xenophobia, and endemic, communicable and chronic diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The Johannesburg Declaration acknowledges that goals set at the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 were not met – and pledges leaders to combat organised crime, corruption and terrorism singly and collectively and are asserting the leaders of the world’s seriousness in protecting the environment and combating poverty. A Plan of Implementation of the Johannesburg Declaration was also agreed upon.