By failing to embrace the steps called for at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the world may have helped set the stage for the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the Worldwatch Institute. In its annual "State of the World" report, the group calls for the world’s nations to join the battle to reduce poverty and increase environmental protections at the 10th anniversary of the summit, to be held this fall in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the 1990s, carbon dioxide emissions rose 9 percent and deaths from AIDS grew from half a million to more than 3 million, the group says. Grim stuff. Elsewhere in the report, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan seconds the call for action in Johannesburg.
