The link between disarmament and sustainable development

Twenty years after the 1992 landmark Earth Summit, the world is getting prepared for another conference of the same magnitude, hopefully with increased positive results. Building on commitments adopted by the international community over the last two decades, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development— Rio+20— should pave the way for the launch of a reinvigorated sustainable development agenda—one that takes into account the complex nature of the root causes of poverty which lie at the core of the devastating effects of environmental degradation, as well as the cross-cutting nature of this issue that it is embedded in almost every economic and social activity of mankind. The conference, to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 20 to 22 June this year, must also consider the so-called “new and emerging challenges” that are affecting the world today, and frame its outcome under four basic key objectives: implementation, coherence, integration, and accountability.