The Road to Rio+20 and beyond World Bank Group Twenty Years on
from the Earth Summit 1. Twenty years ago, the Rio Earth Summit
provided the staging ground for a global conversation that
continues to this day ? a conversation about the long-term
survival of the planet and the quality of life of those who live
on it. Prompted then by environmental challenges like
deforestation and increasing threats from climate change as well
as rising social and economic inequality, the Summit provided
the needed political impetus for an agenda for global action. 2.
Rio 1992 called for action at global, national and local levels
that would deliver on the Brundtland Commission?s
recommendations of 1987 for ?development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs." The Summit resulted in
Agenda 21, which called for action and required countries to
draw up national strategies for sustainable development ?
development which would meet social, economic and envi