In 1992 World Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, getting rid of pollution was the main agenda as well as making our planet healthy amid industrial progress. However the ratification and implementation of this grand endeavor didn’t materialize, the air we breathe is still enveloped with harmful pollutions, the hole in our ozone layer is getting bigger, the seas and oceans are battered with different problems and issues, and rain forests that serves as a refuge to a delicate ecological balance continues to dwindles.Ten years later in the last 2002 summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, different strategies were dished out and placed in the drawing table. Smarter than the last time the summiteers gave importance of development in saving our very planet we live in. This time, it is well-crafted and well-planned that will lead us to a green century equipped with green approach to deal with present bothering problems we're now facing to preserve our planet.

The sustainable development aim is to expand the source of food for all people, so that they will no longer depend and draw resources from the wild, thus the wilderness and the oceans will have more time to recuperate and regenerate, and eventually be preserved.

“The old environmental movement had a reputation of elitism,” says the United Nations Development program (UNDP) administrator as he added, “The key now is to put people first and the environment second, but also to remember that when you exhaust the resources, you destroy the people."

Here are some issues that affect both people and the environment drawn out during the Johannesburg Summit:

 - In Asia the growth rate is projected to be slow in the coming years.

- In parts of the world where poverty is prevalent, like for instance in Africa, diseases like AIDS, malaria and cholera are widely experienced and causes deaths. In the worldwide level at least 68 million are expected to die of AIDS by 2020, a bulk of these which is around 55 million will come from the Sub-Saharan region in Africa.

- Access to family planning and health care for youths and women will be given importance.

- It is very ironic that the world is surrounded by water and only 2.5% of it is fresh water and a fraction of it is accessible.

- We may face serious water problems, if we will not use our water supply well.

- The summit endorses “More crop per crop” mentality, an approach which is about efficient irrigation technique and planting crop varieties that need less water

 - Whipping out and erecting agricultural policies Is one of the core part of the Sustainable Development.

- Planting and replanting the same crops, reliance to pest control and slash-burn method of farming (we call this as “kaingin” in Philippines) degrades the nutrient contents of the soil and making them vulnerable to pests.

- Better crop rotation and irrigation is urged to be implemented across the planet to guarantee good yield as far as farmers are concerned.

- Different research organizations in the world has developed better varieties of corn, cassava, and potato. These achievements must be emulated by other countries .

- Power demands of developing countries are expected to grow by 2.5% annually. If those demand are not provided reliance on burning fossil fuels (gas, oil and coal) might be an alternative, if this happens carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will be produced in our atmosphere, a scenario that will promote global warming paving the way for flooding in lowland areas (because of the rise of sea level and melting of icebergs in the north and south poles), powerful storms, droughts that could lead to famine, climate change and acid rain. A haze which is also known as “Asian Brown Cloud” about 3 kilometers thick, is assumed to be the cause of thousands of deaths in South Asian region last 2001.

- Immediate concern Is the heavy pollution, because of over reliance with fossil fuels.

- Developing cheaper and cleaner sources of electricity can also help curb pollution problems like harnessing the wind power, which is now enjoying a boom in India, micro-hydro electric plants that are now utilized as a way of generating electricity in several countries like in Kenya, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

- More than 11,000 species of animals and plants are threatened to extinction, one third of our corals reefs are expected to disappear after 30 years and areas covered with forests across the planet will continue to decrease each year. Many species of animals that will disappear in the coming years are source of food and medicine for humans. Once a part of the ecosystem is sliced for human habitation and/or farming, expect chain reaction to take place, when you upset the balance of nature you are as well harming some areas you don’t want to disturb.

The problems presented in the 2002 summit in Johannesburg is worse compared to that of 1992 summit in Rio de Janeiro. The summit in in Rio de Janeiro is about getting rid of the plague that causes environmental deterioration and degradation. While that of Johannesburg’s its totally different but perhaps better and even more brilliant, the battle plan that was generated in this particular summit is to solve man’s woes to keep the environment intact.

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