The purpose of this report, Oceans at Rio+20: How Well Are We Doing in Meeting Global Commitments on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands from the 1992 Earth Summit and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development? is to contribute to discussions and preparations related to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 4-6, 2012, and to support governments in the development of a significant ocean outcome at Rio+20. The new vision on sustainable development embodied in the 1992 Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992) represented a major paradigm shift that changed the world and many people around the world. In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg, South Africa, took the paradigm shift further by committing to very specific targets
and timetables to achieve some of the overarching commitments made at the Earth Summit, through the Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation (JPoI).