States, Local Governments Adopt UN “Sustainable Development” Schemes

States and local governments are voluntarily adopting portions of the United Nations’ socialistic agenda, particularly its Agendas 21 and 2030 and related programs on so-called regional or comprehensive planning.

Agenda 21/2030

The UN unveiled its Agenda 21 at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (also known as the “Earth Summit”) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In 2015, it updated the plan as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (or “Agenda 2030”). As our parent organization, The John Birch Society, notes in Exposing the 2030 Agenda, these plans, if implemented, would result in draconian restrictions on individual freedom and property rights in the name of “sustainable development” and the environment.

Although these schemes originate from the UN, they are being implemented via “soft law,” meaning that local, state, and federal government bodies are voluntarily adopting them into their laws and policies. Additionally, nongovernmental organizations such as “ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability” advocate for sustainable development at all levels.

Disingenuous Implementation

Supporters of the UN’s Agenda 21/2030 understood the need to rename the program in order to implement it in the United States. For example, in a June 1998 seminar in London titled “The Future of Local Agenda 21 in the New Millennium,” J. Gary Lawrence, an advisor to President Bill Clinton (including to his Council on Sustainable Development), stated the following, as recorded in the Millennium Papers:

In the case of the U.S., our local authorities are engaged in planning processes consistent with LA21 [Local Agenda 21] but there is little interest in using the LA21 brand. Participating in a UN advocated planning process would very likely bring out many of the conspiracy-fixated groups and individuals in our society…. This segment of our society who fear “one-world government” and a UN invasion of the United States through which our individual freedom would be stripped away would actively work to defeat any elected official who joined “the conspiracy” by undertaking LA21. So, we call our processes something else, such as comprehensive planning, growth management or smart growth.

Sure enough, state and local governments heeded Lawrence’s advice, and the UN’s Agenda 21/2030 has been largely implemented — at the expense of property rights, individual freedom, and limited government — with very few Americans even recognizing it.

State Legislation

A look at specific state laws demonstrates this. In Wisconsin, for example, Governor Tommy Thompson in 1998 signed a memorandum of understanding with Bavaria in which the two states agreed to implement the UN’s Agenda 21. The following year, the Legislature enacted an Agenda 21-inspired “Smart Growth” law that strongly encouraged localities to implement “comprehensive plans” and strengthened the legal force of such plans. And in 2004, the Legislature enacted into law an environmental program called Green Tier, which was made permanent in 2009 (primarily Sections 299.83 and 299.85 of the Wisconsin Statutes). Legislators introduced a bill in 2024 to abolish the Green Tier program, but it failed to pass.

In Iowa, Chapter 18B of the Iowa Code requires state agencies and local governments to consider “smart planning principles” in “planning, zoning, development, and resource management decisions,” including local “comprehensive plans.” Legislation to repeal this chapter was introduced earlier this year. Although it passed the House on March 4 by a 72-25 vote, it stalled in the Senate.

And in Hawaii, the state Legislature introduced legislation in 2021 and 2023 to explicitly codify Agenda 2030 into state law. Although the bills failed, then-Governor David Ige’s Executive Order No. 18‑06 had the same effect. The UN has praised Hawaii for its efforts to implement Agenda 2030.

Federal Involvement

Even the federal government is promoting Agenda 2030. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program, created under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, requires states to create “Climate Action Plans” that would “incorporate a variety of measures to reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions from across their economies in six key sectors (electricity generation, industry, transportation, buildings, agriculture/natural and working lands, and waste management)” in order to receive certain federal funds. Only five states — Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, South Dakota, and Wyoming — declined to participate.

Local Comprehensive Plans

And as The New American has previously reported, scores of local governments are implementing UN-inspired central planning in the form of comprehensive plans. For example, the Central Puget Sound Regional Council, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, and the Twin Cities’ Metropolitan Council all have plans titled “Vision 2050” or “Imagine 2050,” mirroring similar sustainable development plans by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the UN Industrial Development Organization, and even the National Academy of Medicine. Although these plans do not mention the UN’s Agenda 2030 by name and even use a different year, the UN and nongovernmental organizations that promote sustainable development are already starting to look toward 2050 instead of 2030.

Pushing Back

In addition to pursuing socialistic central planning, planning commissions undermine a republican form of government in favor of technocracy, or “rule by technical experts.” (Our article “Restore State Government,” published in the October 14, 2024 issue of The New American, explains the dangers of commissions and other forms of democracy and technocracy in the structures of government.)

So how do we push back against the UN’s Agenda 2030? Ultimately, all levels of government — especially the states — must enact legislation repealing existing central-planning statutes and prohibiting policies aligned with the UN’s Agenda 2030 and other sustainable development programs. Although legislators even in conservative-leaning states have much work to do, certain states, including Tennessee in 2023 and 2024, have already enacted such legislation.

Additionally, patriotic Americans must educate their fellow citizens about how Agenda 2030 and its various manifestations threaten property rights and individual freedom, and work to inform their local, state, and federal elected officials to eliminate all programs that impose central planning. The John Birch Society’s “Stop Agenda 2030” action project includes multiple resources to help accomplish this, including a legislative alert allowing citizens to conveniently call and email their state legislators. By vigilantly and actively working in our communities, we can restore constitutional government and effectively push back against the UN’s international-socialist agenda.

This article is part of The New American’s weekly online newsletter Insider Report, which is emailed to TNA subscribers each week. Click here to subscribe to The New American to receive the Insider Report and access exclusive content.