Agenda 21 is a «Plan of Action» adopted by 178 governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. This document is not only a legal commitment, but it also has a high political value because it represents the highest expression of a global agreement on issues concerning sustainable development and environment.

Agenda 21 is a plan of action to be applied globally, nationally and locally. The text comprises 40 chapters (EN ; FR ; ES ) dealing with those issues in which integration between environment and development should be ensured. Agenda 21 aims at preparing the world for the challenges of 21 century by indicating the strategies and adequate measures to be taken in order to stop and modify the current tendency of environmental degradation and to promote sustainable development in all the states.

The plan encourages international cooperation, governmental responsibility and an ample participation of the public in defining new policies based on three fundamental principles:

- The sharing of responsibilities – which sanction the necessity of presenting all the social and economic forces as engaging parties concerning the definition of the policies.

- Integration – which demands that objectives of environmental protection be achieved at the same time as objectives of development.

- Subsidiarity – which establishes that the sustainable development policies be delegated at the lowest administrative level to bring them closer to reality and to the authentic requirements of the community.



Articulated in four sections, Agenda 21 covers:

- Social and economic dimensions of sustainable development (analyzing the problems of development and the human factors which determine it, along with the main aspects of international trade and political decisions).

- Conservation and management of resources for development (presenting the range of resources which must be considered and protected in order to be able to reach a sustainable development at a local, national and global level).

- Strengthening the role of major groups (recognizing the necessity of strengthening the participation of local communities to attain their objectives where governments are unable to act alone. Agenda 21 emphasises, in this section, that the essential component to reach its objectives is broad and responsible participation at local, national and world level, of the various syndicates, of the business world and of industry, and of the scientific and technological community).

- Means of implementation (concerning the means to secure a durable future for the environment, which include technical, financial, educational, legal, institutional aspects, etc.).

The document appears, first of all, as a reference point for any Government who wishes to draft its own Agenda 21; among the main issues tackled which have significant relationship with a local compatibility are the following:

- The danger of current lifestyles, production and consumption (Chapter 4);

- The gravity of environmental conditions in big cities, especially in metropolitan areas of developing countries (Chapter 7);

- The necessity of integrating environmental, economic and social questions into decision-making and legal, regulatory and planning frameworks, as well as into the market and systems of national accounts (Chapter 8);

- The deterioration of natural resources such as the air (chapter 9), soil (chapter 10), water (chapter 18 );

- The problem of solid wastes (Chapter 21);

- The importance of education, public awareness and training (Chapter 36 e 40), as well as encouraging participation of all the main groups of interest (section III), with particular attention paid to O.N.G. activities, in order to reach the stated objectives.

Agenda 21 recognizes in the local institutions a fundamental role in achieving the objective of a sustainable development.
In particular, chapter 28 invites all local institutions to carry out, through the active participation of the community, their own Agenda 21 premises, which translate the general objectives into programmes and specific interventions for every territorial reality.



The priority actions of Agenda 21 brought together within the framework of the main social arguments are:

1) The Prospering World: how to harmonize the economic development of the South with an environmental compatibility;
2) The Just World: how to face the demographic problems and poverty;
3) The Habitable World: how to face major problems of urbanization;
4) The Desert Fertile World: how to fight against the erosion of soils;
5) The Shared World: how to face the problems of global change;
6) The Clean World: how to manage the problem of toxic and radioactive wastes.

" These points establish the basis of the programmes intended to increase the sustainable utilization of natural resources for human development by insuring, among others, a quality level of fair life in a clean and sustainable environment."

Agenda 21 for a better world : think globally and act locally. Photo : poverty ; instruction ; change of climate ; erosion ; toxic waste ; urbanization .

Pour plus d'informations sur Agenda 21: