The summit aims to overcome years of deadlock over environmental concerns and marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, which delivered the Climate Convention and a host of other promises.

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Despite the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Rio two decades ago, the global debate has been dominated almost exclusively by climate scientists and policy-makers.

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Fiji wants 30% of its waters protected and European nations including the UK are slowly imposing their own marine protected zones, prompted by the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) which was initiated at Rio.

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Along with the FCCC, which established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it also produced three other much lesser-known initiatives the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Statement of Forest Principles, The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, and Sustainable Development Agenda 21.

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