What was the primary focus of the 1992 Rio Summit?

A) Establishing military alliances
B) Addressing global environmental issues and sustainable development
C) Promoting international trade agreements
D) Forming a global government

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

B only

The correct answer is Option 3: B only

A) Establishing military alliances
B) Addressing global environmental issues and sustainable development (answer)
C) Promoting international trade agreements
D) Forming a global government

The Rio Summit, also called the Earth Summit, aimed to address pressing environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development. It emphasized combining economic growth with ecological responsibility.

The growing focus on environmental issues within the arena of global politics was firmly consolidated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. This was also called the Earth Summit. The summit was attended by 170 states, thousands of NGOs and many multinational corporations. Five years earlier, the 1987 Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, had warned that traditional patterns of economic growth were not sustainable in the long term, especially in view of the demands of the South for further industrial development. What was obvious at the Rio Summit was that the rich and developed countries of the First World, generally referred to as the ‘global North’ were pursuing a different environmental agenda than the poor and developing countries of the Third World, called the ‘global South’. Whereas the Northern states were concerned with ozone depletion and global warming, the Southern states were anxious to address the relationship between economic development and environmental management. The Rio Summit produced conventions dealing with climate change, biodiversity, forestry, and recommended a list of development practices called ‘Agenda 21’. But it left unresolved considerable differences and difficulties. There was a consensus on combining economic growth with ecological responsibility. This approach to development is commonly known as ‘sustainable development’. The problem however was how exactly this was to be achieved. Some critics have pointed out that Agenda 21 was biased in favour of economic growth rather than ensuring ecological conservation. Let us look at some of the contentious issues in the global politics of environment.