Goodbye to Planet 21

Posted: 15 August 2012

Twenty years ago at the first Earth Summit in Rio, a new British charity, Planet 21, launched People and the Planet magazine in an effort to track progress in working towards a fair and sustainable future for humanity on planet earth.

With an influential readership, and support from IPPF, UNFPA, IUCN, Sida, WWF, other NGO partners and donor foundations, the magazine flourished for nearly ten years, alongside ground-breaking video output, before it was decided to move to the Internet in 2001.

Since then www.peopleandplanet.net has continued to track and report developments on 16 inter-related themes, with background Overviews, Factfiles, weblinks and a supporting picture gallery.

Meanwhile the world has moved on and the issues of people and the planet are, thankfully, being reported ever more fully by the mainstream media.

This  despite the disappointing  progress of governments  - most recently at Rio+20 - in  applying solutions to all the pressing problems  of social justice and habitat destruction that face us. Climate change, the loss of natural resources and the pressure on water, energy and food supplies all arise from growing consumer demands alongside   rapidly rising human numbers.

But now donor funding is insufficient for Planet 21 to continue the research, editorial content and  updating that is essential if the job is to be of unique value.

So, regretfully, we are ceasing all further additions to the website, unless  further funding is forthcoming. Our searchable archive will, however remain on line for the rest of the year -- and can be re-activated if funds are forthcoming.

In the meantime the editors and charity trustees at Planet 21 send our thanks to all our advisers, supporters, partners, designers and contributors and wish all our readers courage in the continuing struggle to build a healthy world for healthy people.

John Rowley, editor
John Guillebaud, chairman of trustees