There is no doubt that the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) is an event of tremendous importance and significance to the modern world.

You can use these pages to find out more about the event, the organisation and the people behind the World Summit Global Forum.

What is Sustainable Development?

The use if the term Sustainable Development can be traced back to the late 1800s when it was used by German Forest Management groups. It later became popular in the 20th Century while still being used in an environmental context.

The Stockholm Declaration which resulted from the 1972 United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm referred to the Sustainable Development in the following manner:
"The natural resources of the earth, including the air, water, land, flora and fauna and especially representative samples of natural ecosystem, must be safeguarded for the benefit of present and future generations through careful planning or management..."

In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development produced a document entitled Our Common Future where it defined as:
"...Meet[ing] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs..."

Related Links

All the Contact Details for the Civil Society Secretariat.

Read about the background to the WSSD Global Forum - why is it being held and why South Africa was chosen as the venue.

Read about the WSSD Civil Society Secretariat, the organisation tasked with hosting the Global Forum.

You can now browse all policy documents available on the web.