Summit, city (1990 pop. 19,757), Union co., NE N.J., a residential suburb of the New York City-N New Jersey metropolitan area; settled c.1720, set off from Springfield and New Providence and inc. 1869. Pharmaceuticals are made, and several major companies have research facilities there. Situated on a ridge of Watchung Mt., it was the site of an important American lookout post during the Revolutionary War.

Lee's Summit, city (1990 pop. 46,418), Jackson co., W Mo., in the Kansas City metropolitan area; inc. 1868. The city is an important trucking center and manufactures communications equipment, appliances, pharmaceuticals, and plastic and metal products.

Earth Summit: see United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

officially United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

Conference held in Rio de Janeiro (June 3–14, 1992) to reconcile worldwide economic development with environmental protection. It was the largest gathering of world leaders in history, with 117 heads of state and representatives of 178 countries. Biodiversity, global warming, sustainable development, and preservation of tropical rain forests were among the topics discussed. Five international agreements were signed amid tensions between the industrialized countries of the North and the poorer developing states of the South, who were reluctant to accept environmental restrictions without increased Northern economic aid. Follow-up meetings were held in 1997 at the UN General Assembly in New York and in 2002 in Johannesburg, S.Af. Seealso Rio Treaty.

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