• Human beings are at the centre of sustainable development.
•States have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources.
• The right to development must be so fulfilled as to meet the needs of present and future generations.
• Poverty eradication is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.
• Countries have common but differentiated responsibilities to reverse environmental degradation.
• Industrialised countries are more responsible for cleaning up the global environment, but they are also more capable because of the technologies and funds they have.
• Elimination of unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and the promotion of appropriate demographic policies is important.
• Environmental issues are best handled with citizens' participation, especially of women. At the national level, each individual should have access to information held by public authorities.
• States will enact and develop laws regarding liability and compensation for victims of environmental damage. But environmental standards do not have to conform to international norms.
• Trade measures for environmental purposes should not lead to arbitrary and unjustified discrimination.
• Transfer and relocation of activities and substances that cause environmental degradation should be discouraged.
• Lack of scientific certainty about serious threats to the environment should not prevent nations from acting. Precautionary approaches must be adopted.