Sustaining the Unknown Seas: Changes in U.S. Ocean Policy and Regulation Since Rio '92

Abstract

In June 1992, and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, the nations of the world formally endorsed the concept of sustainable development and agreed to a plan of action for achieving it -- Agenda 21. One of those nations was the United States.

This article assesses the United States' progress in achieving the goals of sustainable development in its ocean and coastal ecosystems in the decade after the Rio Conference. Specifically, it compares four of the seven programs laid out in Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 to the Unites States' marine-related laws and its assessments of its various marine resources, concluding that improvements in U.S. law and policy are still needed.

Keywords: sustainable development, Agenda 21, Rio Conference, ocean, coast, biodiversity, marine resources, Chapter 17, ocean policy