A/77/290 17. Aware that the economic aspect has monopolized the interpretation of the concept, the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Conference) recognized that integrating and balancing economic, social and environmental dimensions required new perceptions of the way we produce and consume, the way we live and work, and the way we make decisions. 9 The Rio Conference resulted in several political engagements and the creation of the Agenda 21 plan of action. 18. A few years later, in 2000, the United Nations adopted the Millennium Declaration, including 8 Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. The main weaknesses of these goals lay in the lack of strong accountability mechanisms and in the fact that neither the goals nor the plans for implementing them had been framed in human rights terms. 10 Some actions were taken to remedy this in the post2015 agenda, which became the 2030 Agenda. B. Development can only be sustainable if infused with cultural rights 19. Sustainable development is not reachable without the integration of full respect for cultural rights. This entails the following aspects. 1. Include cultural development 20. Sustainable development must include cultural development. It results from and should ensure the balance between the social, economic and environmental but also cultural pillars of sustainability. 11 Sustainable development cannot be separated from the recognition of individual and collective cultural rights, including spiritual and heritage rights. 12 21. Many stakeholders regret the omission of cultural rights 13 and the lack of consideration for values, world views, identities and diversity in the sustainable development framework and strategies. 14 22. Advocacy for the establishment of a fourth cultural pillar of sustainable development in the 2030 Agenda was one significant attempt to address that omission. Unfortunately, development is still approached in dominant circles mainly or solely through an economic lens, with no mention of cultural aspects. 15 The Special Rapporteur values the benefits of economic development, but it is ess ential that the economic aspect run alongside environmental, social and cultural aspects. 2. Reverse inequalities and stereotypes 23. Sustainable development must reverse inequalities and stereotypes. It advances the realization of human rights, 16 including cultural rights, and should leave no person without access to information, education, research and cultural resources, which they __________________ 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 22-12659 www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Who Will Be Accountable? Human Rights and the Post-2015 Development Agenda (New York and Geneva, 2013). Contribution of Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana, p. 1. Contributions of Natural Justice and Earthlife Africa, p. 2; One Ocean Hub, p. 2; and Commission Nationale Indépendante des Droits de l’Homme du Burundi, p. 3. See, for example, contributions: Beatriz Barreiro Carril and Kevin Grecksch, p. 1; Cris González Gabarda and Vicente Bellver Capella, p. 1; and International Federation of L ibrary Associations and Institutions, p. 6. Contributions of the Grupo de Trabajo sobre Derechos Culturales, pp. 2 –4; Estefania Rodero Sanz, p. 1; Danish Cultural Institute, pp. 12 and 13. Contributions of Azerbaijan, Qatar and Slovakia. Contribution of Cambodia, p. 1. 7/24