Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, credited with securing the future of one of Mexico's most critical ecosystems, Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, and supporting the livelihoods of disadvantaged rural communities, received a UN 2013 Champions of the Earth award. The Reserve is home to more than 110 species of mammals 334 bird species, and 2,308 plant species.
Providing basic facilities, including water and sanitation, but also transport and housing, in increasingly condensed urban areas will be one of the major challenges facing the world in the coming years
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was held in Johannesburg in 2002 to review progress since the Rio conference in 1992, and to agree a new global deal on sustainable development. Unlike its predecessor, it was primarily concerned with implementation rather than with new treaties and targets, although a number of new targets were agreed, for example one on sanitation.
Industrial pollution and waste management remains one of the greatest obstacles to protecting the global environment and achieving sustainable development.