The United Nations General Assembly resolution No. A/RES/55/199 on 10 December 2000 stipulated that the Commission on Sustainable Development conducts a 10-year review on the implementation of the outcomes of the Earth Summit and holds a commemoration of the 10-year Earth Summit in 2002.

WSSD or World Summit on Sustainable Development is also known as Johannesburg Summit 2002 or Rio + 10. WSSD is a world conference that will be participated by more than 130 heads of state, UN institutions, multilateral financial institutions, the private sectors, businesses, NGOs, CSOs (civil society organizations), the mass media, and other groups.

WSSD is scheduled to be held on September 2-11, 2002 following four preparatory meetings (Preparatory Committee Meetings). The convening of the WSSD constitutes a bottom-up preparatory process, from the provincial, national, sub-regional, and regional levels.

On April 30, 2001, the Committee on Sustainable Development which became the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) of WSSD convened its 10th session or the First PrepCom at the UN Headquarters in New York to elect the PrepCom Bureau. The session unanimously elected Professor Emil Salim of Indonesia to head the Bureau as Chairman of PrepCom, who will chair the WSSD preparatory meetings.

The Southeast Asia sub-regional preparatory meeting was held in Manila on October 17-19, 2001, whilst the Asia Pacific regional preparatory meeting was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 27-28, 2001. Following the meetings, the Second PrepCom was held in New York on January 28 - February 8, 2002. The Third PrepCom was also held in New York on March 25 - April 5, 2002.

The final PrepCom or the Fourth Prepcom at ministerial level will be held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, from 27 May to 7 June 2002.

The Fourth PrepCom is the most important process that leads up to the WSSD, since all documents that will be adopted and signed in Johannesburg in September 2002 will be decided.

More than 6.000 participants from various countries and organizations will be expected to attend the Fourth PrepCom in Bali. As a ministerial level meeting, ministers and senior officers from various fields including economics and finance will also attend the meeting.

WSSD aims to evaluate global changes and bring about real actions to enhance people's lives while at the same time continue to preserve natural resources in a world with constantly increasing population and demand for fresh water, food, energy, health services, sanitation, housing, and economic security. WSSD will draw the world's attention to real actions to attain sustainable development.

The WSSD will review the implementation of the outcomes of the UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 - more popularly known as the Earth Summit or the Rio Summit - particularly the implementation of Agenda 21.

In short, WSSD will assess whether the world's growth encompasses the preservation of natural resources and whether every country seriously implements sustainable development. Generally, WSSD will evaluate the 10-year implementation of sustainable development as stipulated by Stockholm 1972 meeting and the Earth Summit.

Earth Summit was a meeting of heads of state, whilst WSSD is a meeting of the world's communities by the accommodation of major groups of the communities into the meeting. Apart from that, the emphasis of the Earth Summit was more on environment, whilst the emphasis of WSSD is more on sustainable development, rather than only on environment. In light of this, the Earth Summit was participated by environment ministers of every country, whilst WSSD will also be participated by other ministers, such as ministers of finance and trade. Moreover, if in the Earth Summit the NGOs that participated were only those that related to environment, in WSSD various groups will be involved depending on their major groups.

In 1972 the United Nations for the first time convened an international conference, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, to consider environment issues in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference was participated by 113 countries and aimed to address the global environmental challenges. The conference also discussed, among others, regional pollution issues and the acid rain in northern Europe. The conference concluded that there was a need for a common outlook and a common principle that serve as inspirations and directions for the world community in preserving and improving the environment. One important outcome of the conference was the establishment of UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme).

In 1993 the United Nations established the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) to formulate global environment and development problems. One of this Commission's outcomes was a report titled "Our Common Future", also known as the Brundtland Report 1987.

The report stressed on the threatening global environmental problems derived from poverty in developing countries and excessive consumption in developed countries. The report also defined sustainable development as "that which met the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs".

Based on the report, the United Nations then prepared for the UNCED.

The UNCED or the Earth Summit was held on June 3-14, 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some 103 heads of state and heads of government took part in the Summit. Parallel to the official conference, a People's Forum organized by NGOs was also held. The Forum was aimed to influence and served as an alternative to the official conference.

The Rio Principles., which includes two main principles formulated to ensure that governments seriously protect the environment and develop responsibly, i.e. the precautionary principle and the common but differentiated responsibilities.

The Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Rio Forestry Principles. as basis for negotiation for development into a Convention on International Forestry.

Agenda 21 as one of the most important outcomes of the Earth Summit. Agenda 21 is a blueprint for sustainable development and serves as a basis for sustainable development strategies. Agenda 21 contains measures to be implemented to ensure sustainable development.

The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was also an outcome of the Earth Summit, as stipulated by Agenda 21. The Commission was established in 1992, following the United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 47/191, to ensure effective follow-up of the Earth Summit, to promote international cooperation, and to monitor and report on the implementation of the Earth Summit agreements at the local, national, regional, and international levels.

Agenda 21 is a program of action to promote sustainable development. In addition to the Preamble, Agenda 21 is divided into 4 sections:

As lined out in Agenda 21 the major groups are the women, children/youths, indigenous people, environmental non-government organizations, local authorities, labor/trade unions, business/industries, scientists, and farmers.

The Indonesian Government has set up the National Committee for the Fourth Preparatory Committee for the WSSD. The State Minister for Environment, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Minister Coordinator for Economy preside as Chairs of the National Committee, assisted by the Minister Coordinator for Political and Security Affairs, the Minister Coordinator for People's Welfare, the Minister for Finance, the State Minister for National Development Planning, the State Secretary, and the Chief on National Police as advisors.

The National Director of the National Committee is Mrs. Erna Witoelar, who coordinates two main working areas, the substance (co-chaired by Mr. Effendi Sumardja and Mr. Makarim Wibisono) and the general support (co-chaired by Mr. Sudarsono and Mr. Arizal Effendi).