1997 marks the 5th anniversary of the UN Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the 25th anniversary of the UN Conference on The Human Environment held at Stockholm in 1972. A report prepared by the United Nations for consideration at a special session of the UN General Assembly convened in New York in June 1997, to review the progress made since 1992 in giving operational content to the concept of sustainable development, warns, "the state of the global environment has continued to deteriorate. Reversing the trend is more urgent than ever."
