9. Since the 1992 “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, we have identified a new
pathway to human wellbeing – the path of sustainable development. The Millennium
Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals articulated in the year 2000 placed
people at the center, generating unprecedented improvements in the lives of many around
the world. The global mobilization behind the MDGs showed that multilateral action can
make a tangible difference.
10. Yet conditions in today’s world are a far cry from the vision of the Charter.
Amid great plenty for some, we witness pervasive poverty, gross inequalities, joblessness,
disease and deprivation for billions. Displacement is at its highest level since the Second
World War. Armed conflict, crime, terrorism, persecution, corruption, impunity and the
erosion of the rule of law are daily realities. The impacts of the global economic, food and
energy crises are still being felt. The consequences of climate change have only just
begun. These failings and shortcomings have done as much to define the modern era as
has our progress in science, technology and the mobilization of global social movements.