Key Events to the Implementation of Agenda 21/Sustainable Development

1974: U.N. adopted a declaration “New International Economic Order” that declared that government should control the economy.

1976: U.N. Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat I) stated that land cannot be controlled by the individual. Land represents wealth and it is a social injustice for it to be owned by the individual.

1987: U.N. report from the World Commission on the Environment and Development (also known as the Brundtland Commission) called “Our Common Good” first coined the phrase “sustainable development”. This Commission began the process of how to take control of the world’s economies and to redistribute the wealth.

1990: ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, now known as Local Governments for Sustainable Development) is founded at the World Congress for Local Governments for a Sustainable Future at the U.N. in New York.

1992: Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro (aka Rio Earth Conference) unveiled the Agenda for the 21st Century (later shortened to Agenda 21), the “how to” manual for the implementation of Sustainable Development. Here they added the third pillar, Environmental Protections and Restoration, to the economic equity and social equity pillars, by ratifying the U.N.’s Biodiversity Treaty. Going forward man could now be blamed for all environmental degradation. At this same United Nation’s conference three other treaties were ratified; the Convention on Climate Change (the precursor to the Kyoto Climate Protocol, later adopted in 1997), the Rio Declaration, and the Convention on Forest Principles.

1993: President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 12852, which created the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. This allowed Agenda 21 goals to be implemented into all Federal Agencies.

1993: The office of Environmental Policy was created by President Clinton to be sure environmental concerns are appropriately incorporated into Administration policies.

1996: The President’s Council of Sustainable Development submitted Sustainable America: A New Consensus for Prosperity, Opportunity, and a Healthy Environment. Its objective was to create consensus among the many groups that were attempting to take over the world’s economy using Agenda 21.

1997: By 1997 the federal government owns 33% of all land in the U.S., while the state and local governments own another 10%.

1997: At the U.S.’s Conference of Mayors, the Joint Center for Sustainable Development is created.

2001: The National Governor’s Association endorses Smart Growth.

2002: At the Johannesburg Summit, Colin Powell says the U.S. is on board with Agenda 21.

2011: President Obama signs Executive Order 13575, creating the White House Rural Council. This Executive Order requires every federal agency in the U.S. to over-see all the food, fiber, and energy needs for all the rural sustainable communities across the U.S. affecting 16% of the U.S.

2012: President Obama signs Executive Order 13602 which gives the Department of Housing and Urban Development the power to create regulations to enforce local and regional planning that the federal government feels is beneficial to the fiscal responsibility of the U.S.

 

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