The proposal for setting up a Commission for Sustainable Development, considered one of Rio's successes, is already caught in a dispute over size, composition and status.

Environmental stress has resulted mainly from unsustainable consumption levels in poor nations because of bad land use and degraded village commons and excessive use of non renewable resources in the developed countries. It is imperative that the global

Funds, always a sticky subject, was an area of considerable debate at UNCED. What emerged was a weak compromise which left northern purses relatively untapped

After prolonged negotiations, what the Rio summit has produced is a weak and poorly represented commission on sustainable development

UNCED saw the largest ever gathering of heads of government in history. Ceremony, glitter and pomp were played out against a backdrop of demonstrations, haggling and scandal. The Down to Earth team, which witnessed the entire pageant, records its impres

Environmental economists hold the brief that the best way to put environment on the agenda of various countries is to make them realise its economic value. Partha Dasgupta of Stanford