At the Sustainable Development conference hosted by Dept of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (18 -22 June 2005, Cape Town), government and stakeholders set out this declaration of sustainable development for the Western Cape and how to implement priority actions.

This follows the global intentions and directives set out at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002.

Various important principles are the bedrock of this declaration including:

• the Rio Principles
• the full implementation of Agenda 21
• the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21
• the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and
• the UN Millennium Declaration World Summit Goals.