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A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. IV) REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT*
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT*
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
( * The present document is a preliminary version of the report of
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and is
being issued in five volumes. The Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development and section/I (Social and economic dimensions) of Agenda
21 are in volume/I; section/II (Conservation and management of
resources for development) of Agenda 21 is in volume/II; and sections
III (Strengthening the role of major groups) and IV (Means of
implementation) of Agenda 21 and the non-legally binding authoritative
statement of principles for a global consensus on the management,
conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests are
in volume/III. The proceedings of the Conference and opening and
closing statements are in volume IV. Statements made during the
Summit Segment are in volume/V. )
CONTENTS*
( * For chapter I (resolutions adopted by the Conference), see
A/CONF.151/26 (Vols. I-III). )
Chapter Page
II. ATTENDANCE AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK ................. 4
A. Date and place of the Conference .................. 4
B. Pre-Conference consultations ...................... 4
C. Attendance ........................................ 4
D. Opening of the Conference ......................... 8
E. Election of the President ......................... 9
F. Messages from heads of State ...................... 9
G. Adoption of the rules of procedure ................ 9
H. Adoption of the agenda ............................ 9
I. Election of officers other than the President ..... 10
J. Organization of work, including the establishment of
the Main Committee of the Conference .............. 11
K. Appointment of members of the Credentials Committee 11
III. GENERAL DEBATE ..................................... 12
IV. REPORT OF THE MAIN COMMITTEE AND ACTION TAKEN BY THE
CONFERENCE ......................................... 16
A. Report of the Main Committee ...................... 16
B. Action taken by the Conference .................... 20
V. REPORT OF THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE ................ 26
VI. SUMMIT SEGMENT OF THE CONFERENCE ................... 29
VII. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE ........... 30
Annexes
I. LIST OF DOCUMENTS .................................. 31
II. OPENING STATEMENTS ................................. 35
III. CLOSING STATEMENTS ................................. 64
Chapter II
ATTENDANCE AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK
A. Date and place of the Conference
1. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was
held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3 to 14 June 1992, in conformity
with General Assembly resolution 45/211 of 21 December 1990 and its
decision 46/468 of 13/April 1992. During that period the Conference
held 19 plenary meetings.
B. Pre-Conference consultations
2. Pre-Conference consultations open to all States invited to
participate in the Conference were held at Rio de Janeiro on 1 and 2
June 1992 to consider a number of procedural and organizational
matters. These and other informal consultations were conducted under
the chairmanship of His/Excellency Professor Celso Lafer, Minister of
External Relations of Brazil. The report on the consultations
(A/CONF.151/L.1) was submitted to the Conference and its
recommendations were accepted as the basis for the organization of the
Conference's work.
C. Attendance
3. The following States and regional economic integration
organizations were represented at the Conference:
Afghanistan Botswana
Albania Brazil
Algeria Brunei Darussalam
Angola Bulgaria
Antigua and Barbuda Burkina Faso
Argentina Burundi
Armenia Cambodia
Australia Cameroon
Austria Canada
Azerbaijan Cape Verde
Bahamas Central African Republic
Bahrain Chad
Bangladesh Chile
Barbados China
Belarus Colombia
Belgium Comoros
Belize Congo
Benin Cook Islands
Bhutan Costa Rica
Bolivia Co^te d'Ivoire
Croatia Lebanon
Cuba Lesotho
Cyprus Liberia
Czechoslovakia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Democratic People's Republic Liechtenstein
of Korea Lithuania
Denmark Luxembourg
Djibouti Madagascar
Dominica Malaysia
Ecuador Maldives
Egypt Mali
El Salvador Malta
Equatorial Guinea Marshall Islands
Estonia Mauritania
European Economic Community Mauritius
Ethiopia Mexico
Fiji Micronesia (Federated States of)
Finland Monaco
France Mongolia
Gabon Morocco
Gambia Mozambique
Germany Myanmar
Ghana Namibia
Greece Nauru
Grenada Nepal
Guatemala Netherlands
Guinea New Zealand
Guinea-Bissau Nicaragua
Guyana Niger
Haiti Nigeria
Holy See Norway
Honduras Oman
Hungary Pakistan
Iceland Panama
India Papua New Guinea
Indonesia Paraguay
Iran (Islamic Republic of) Peru
Iraq Philippines
Ireland Poland
Israel Portugal
Italy Qatar
Jamaica Republic of Korea
Japan Republic of Moldova
Jordan Romania
Kazakhstan Russian Federation
Kenya Rwanda
Kiribati Saint Kitts and Nevis
Kuwait Saint Lucia
Lao People's Democratic RepublicSaint Vincent and the Grenadines
Latvia Samoa
San Marino Tunisia
Sao Tome and Principe Turkey
Saudi Arabia Tuvalu
Senegal Uganda
Seychelles Ukraine
Sierra Leone United Arab Emirates
Singapore United Kingdom of Great Britain
Slovenia and Northern Ireland
Solomon Islands United Republic of Tanzania
Spain United States of America
Sri Lanka Uruguay
Sudan Vanuatu
Suriname Venezuela
Swaziland Viet Nam
Sweden Yemen
Switzerland Yugoslavia
Syrian Arab Republic Zaire
Thailand Zambia
Togo Zimbabwe
Trinidad and Tobago
4. The observer for Palestine attended the Conference.
5. The following associate members of the regional commissions were
represented by observers:
American Samoa
Aruba
Hong Kong
Netherlands Antilles
Niue
Puerto Rico
United States Virgin Islands
6. The following national liberation movements were represented by
observers:
African National Congress (South Africa)
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
7. The following United Nations offices were represented at the
Conference:
Department of Economic and Social Development
Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a
Convention on Biodiversity
Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a
Framework Convention on Climate Change
8. The secretariats of the following regional commissions were
represented at the Conference:
Economic Commission for Africa
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
9. The following United Nations bodies and programmes were also
represented:
Economic and Social Council
International Court of Justice
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
United Nations Development Fund for Women
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in
the Near East
United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office
United Nations University
World Food Programme
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the
United Nations International Drug Control Programme
World Food Council
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement
of Women
United Nations Institute for Training and Research
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
10. The following specialized agencies and related organizations were
represented:
International Labour Organisation
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
International Civil Aviation Organization
World Health Organization
World Bank
International Monetary Fund
Universal Postal Union
International Telecommunication Union
World Meteorological Organization
International Maritime Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization
International Fund for Agricultural Development
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
11. The following intergovernmental organizations were represented by
observers:
African Development Bank
African Timber Organization
Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation
Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee
Asian Development Bank
Caribbean Community and Common Market
Central American Bank for Economic Integration
Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific
Commonwealth Secretariat
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
Council of Europe
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
European Investment Bank
Inter-American Development Bank
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
International Committee of the Red Cross
International Energy Agency
International Joint Commission
International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund
International Tropical Timber Organization
Latin American Economic System (SELA)
League of Arab States
OPEC Fund for International Development
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
Organization of African Unity
Organization of American States
Organization of the Islamic Conference
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Permanent South Pacific Commission
South African Development Coordination Conference
South Asia Cooperative Environmental Programme
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
South Pacific Forum Secretariat
South Pacific Regional Environment Programme
World Tourism Organization
12. A large number of non-governmental organizations attended the Conference.
The list of non-governmental organizations participating is given in document
A/CONF.151/PC/L.28 and Add.1-14.
D. Opening of the Conference
13. The Conference was declared open by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
14. The Secretary-General requested the Conference to observe two minutes of
silence on behalf of the Earth and added that upon the initiative of the
Secretary-General of the Conference two minutes of silence would also
be observed at the same time all over the world.
15. The inaugural address made by the Secretary-General is contained in
annex/II below.
E. Election of the President
16. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June, the Conference elected, by
acclamation, as President of the Conference, His Excellency
Mr./Fernando/Collor, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
17. The inaugural address made by the President of the Conference is
contained in annex II below.
Opening statements
18. Opening statements were made by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Mr./Maurice/Strong;
His/Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, whose country had hosted the 1972
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment; Her Excellency
Mrs./Gro/Harlem/Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, who spoke in her
capacity as Chairman of the World Commission on Environment and Development;
His Excellency Dr./Mario/Soares, President of Portugal, who spoke at the
personal invitation of the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil (see
annex II below).
F. Messages from heads of State
19. The Conference received messages wishing it success from His/Excellency
Mr./Mohamed/Boudiaf, President of the High State Committee of Algeria
(A/CONF.151/20), and His Excellency Mr./Boris/N./Yeltsin, President of the
Russian Federation (A/CONF.151/18).
G. Adoption of the rules of procedure
20. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June, the Conference adopted the
provisional rules of procedure (A/CONF.151/2) recommended by the Preparatory
Committee and approved by the General Assembly in paragraph 6 of its
resolution 46/168 of 19 December 1991 and its decisions 46/469, 46/470 and
46/471 of 13 April 1992.
H. Adoption of the agenda
21. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June, the Conference adopted as its
agenda the provisional agenda (A/CONF.151/1) recommended by the Preparatory
Committee and approved by the General Assembly in paragraph 6 of its
resolution 46/168 of 19 December 1991 and its decision 46/468 of
13/April/1992. The agenda as adopted was as follows:
1. Opening of the Conference.
2. Election of the President.
3. Adoption of the rules of procedure.
4. Adoption of the agenda.
5. Election of officers other than the President.
6. Organization of work, including establishment of the Main
Committee of the Conference.
7. Credentials of representatives to the Conference:
(a) Appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee;
(b) Report of the Credentials Committee.
8. General debate.
9. Adoption of agreements on environment and development.
10.Signature of Conventions.
11.Adoption of the report of the Conference.
22. The Conference decided that items 1 to 8 and 11 of the agenda
would be considered in plenary meeting, and items 9 and 10 by the Main
Committee, which would submit its recommendations to the Conference.
I. Election of officers other than the President
23. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June, the Conference elected
Vice-Presidents from the following regional groups:
African States (12 Vice-Presidents): Benin, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau,
Kenya, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, United
Republic of Tanzania, Zaire and Zimbabwe;
Eastern European States (4 Vice-Presidents): Poland, Romania,
Russian Federation and Ukraine;
Latin American and Caribbean States (7 Vice-Presidents):
Argentina, Barbados, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and
Venezuela;
Western European and other States (7 Vice-Presidents): Canada,
Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America.
24. At the 4th plenary meeting, on 4 June, because 11 Asian States
had been nominated at the pre-Conference consultations for the nine
posts of Vice-President, Bangladesh and Japan withdrew their
candidacies. The Conference thereupon completed its election of
Vice-Presidents as follows:
Asian States (9 Vice-Presidents): China, India, Indonesia, Iran
(Islamic Republic of), Malaysia, Maldives, Republic of Korea, Saudi
Arabia and Vanuatu.
25. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June, the Conference also
elected an ex/officio Vice-President from the host country, His
Excellency Professor/Celso Lafer, Minister of External Relations of
Brazil.
26. At the same meeting, the Conference elected
Mr./Lakhdar/Brahimi (Algeria) Rapporteur-General of the Conference.
27. Also at the same meeting, the Conference elected Mr./Tommy/Koh
(Singapore) Chairman of the Main Committee.
J. Organization of work, including the establishment of
the Main Committee of the Conference
28. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June, the Conference, in
accordance with the recommendations of the pre-Conference
consultations contained in paragraphs 18 to 20 of document
A/CONF.151/L.1, approved its organization of work.
29. At the same meeting, the Conference took note of the
recommendations of the pre-Conference consultations contained in
paragraphs 22-25 of document A/CONF.151/L.1, which included
information on the arrangements for the signing of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on
Biological Diversity, the concluding events and the report of the
Conference.
K. Appointment of members of the Credentials Committee
30. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June, in conformity with rule
4 of the rules of procedure of the Conference and the recommendation
of the pre-Conference consultations contained in paragraph 21 of
document A/CONF.151/L.1, the Conference established a Credentials
Committee composed of Belgium, Belize, Chile, China, Lesotho, the
Russian Federation, Singapore, Togo and the United States of America,
on the understanding that if one of those States did not participate
in the Conference, it would be replaced by another State from the same
regional group.
Chapter III
GENERAL DEBATE
1. The general debate, which took place at the 2nd/to 14th/plenary
meetings, from 3/to 11/June/1992, covered the range of topics
considered by the Conference, including the adoption of agreements on
environment and development (agenda item/9), which was more
specifically the concern of the Main Committee. All speakers
expressed their appreciation of the efforts made by the host
Government and by the secretariat in preparing for the Conference.
2. The Conference was addressed by representatives of States,
observers, specialized agencies, United Nations bodies, programmes and
offices, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental
organizations. Several children addressed the Conference on behalf of
the world's children.
3. At the 2nd/plenary meeting, on 3/June, the Conference heard
statements by the representatives of Pakistan (on behalf of the Group
of/77), Portugal (on behalf of the States members of the European
Economic Community), the United States of America, Israel, Germany and
Chile.
4. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of
the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health
Organization. The Commissioner for North/South Relations at the
Commission of the European Communities, an intergovernmental
organization, made a statement. The Mayor of Montreal, on behalf of
the International Union of Local Authorities, a non-governmental
organization, also made a statement.
5. The observer for Palestine made a statement in exercise of the
right of reply.
6. At the 3rd plenary meeting, on 4/June, the Conference heard
statements by the representatives of the Holy See, Antigua and
Barbuda, Italy, France and Burundi.
7. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of
the World Bank, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United
Nations Industrial Development Organization. The representative of
the United Nations International Drug Control Programme made a
statement. The representative of the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development, an intergovernmental organization, made a
statement. A statement was also made by the representative of the
Bah 'e' International Community, a non-governmental organization.
8. The representative of Qatar spoke in exercise of the right of
reply.
9. At the 4th plenary meeting, on 4/June, statements were made by the
representatives of Norway, Brazil, Romania, the Marshall Islands,
Botswana, Oman, Kiribati, Kazakhstan, Burkina Faso and Yemen.
10. At the same meeting, the representatives of the United Nations
Development Programme and the United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (Habitat) made statements. The representatives of the
International Maritime Organization, the International Labour
Organisation and the World Tourism Organization made statements.
Statements were also made by the representatives of the following
intergovernmental organizations: the Inter-American Development Bank,
the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee and the International
Energy Agency.
11. At the same meeting, the observer for the Netherlands
Antilles, an associate member of the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean, made a statement.
12. At the 5th plenary meeting on 5/June, statements were made by
the representatives of Indonesia, Mozambique, Zambia, Belize, the
Sudan, Thailand, Austria, Ghana and India.
13. At the same meeting, the representatives of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development and the Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia (on behalf of the five United Nations
regional commissions) made statements. A statement was made by the
representative of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund,
an intergovernmental organization. A statement was also made by the
representative of the Society for International Development, a
non-governmental organization.
14. At the 6th plenary meeting, on 5/June, statements were made by
the representatives of Iceland, Paraguay, Japan, the Netherlands,
Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Cuba, the Republic of Moldova, the Niger and
Barbados
15. At the same meeting, statements were made by the
representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations: the
European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation
on Agriculture and the International Tropical Timber Organization. A
statement was also made by the representative of the Business Council
for Sustainable Development, a non-governmental organization.
16. At the 7th plenary meeting, on 8/June, statements were made by
the representatives of the United Republic of Tanzania, Sweden, China,
Morocco, Uruguay, Bahrain, Namibia, Argentina and Zimbabwe.
17. At the same meeting, the representatives of the United Nations
Population Fund and the United Nations Development Fund for Women made
statements. The representative of the International Monetary Fund
made a statement. A statement was also made by the representative of
the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a non-governmental organization.
18. At the 8th plenary meeting, on 8/June, statements were made by
the representatives of Greece, the Russian Federation, Turkey,
Ecuador, Mongolia, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Guyana, Malta, the Islamic
Republic of Iran, Cameroon, the Syrian Arab Republic, Benin, Bolivia,
Estonia (on behalf of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Sierra Leone and
Vanuatu.
19. At the same meeting, the representative of the United Nations
Children's Fund made a statement. The representative of the Latin
American Economic System (SELA), an intergovernmental organization,
made a statement. Statements were also made by the representatives of
the following non-governmental organizations: the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the Global Legislators'
Organization for a Balanced Environment.
20. At the 9th plenary meeting, on 9/June, statements were made by
the representatives of Mauritius, Mauritania, Myanmar, Hungary,
Denmark, Yugoslavia, Slovenia and Co^te d'Ivoire.
21. At the same meeting, the representatives of the International
Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme and the
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of
Women made statements. The representatives of the following
intergovernmental organizations made statements: the OPEC Fund for
International Development and the Organization of the Islamic
Conference. A statement was also made by the representative of the
Women's Environment and Development Organization, a non-governmental
organization.
22. At the 10th plenary meeting, on 9/June, statements were made
by the representatives of Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia,
Sri Lanka (in his capacity as Chairman of the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation), Tunisia, Belarus, Nauru, Iraq, Belgium,
Malawi, Guatemala, Djibouti, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, Gabon, the Philippines and Kenya.
23. At the same meeting, the representative of the United Nations
University made a statement. Statements were also made by the
representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations: the
International Joint Commission (United States and Canada) and the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. A statement was
also made by the representative of the International Council of
Scientific Unions, a non-governmental organization.
24. The representative of Yugoslavia made a statement in exercise
of the right of reply.
25. At the 11th plenary meeting, on 10/June, statements were made
by the representatives of Finland, Luxembourg, Zaire, the Federated
States of Micronesia, Colombia, Australia, Nigeria, Switzerland and
Spain.
26. At the same meeting, the representative of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations made a statment. The
representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations made
statements: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the
Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank. A statement
was also made by the representative of the International Chamber of
Commerce, a non-governmental organization.
27. At the 12th plenary meeting, on 10/June, statements were made
by the representatives of Bangladesh, Ireland, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia,
Rwanda, Cook Islands, Liberia, Costa Rica, the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, Croatia, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the Gambia and Cyprus.
28. At the same meeting, the observer for American Samoa, an
associate member of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific, and the observer for Puerto Rico, an associate member of
the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, made
statements. The observer for the African National Congress of South
Africa also made a statement.
29. Also at the same meeting, the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees and the representative of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization made statements. The
representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations made
statements: the League of Arab States and the South Pacific Regional
Environment Programme. Statements were also made by the
representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: the
Comitœ Intertribal, the International Association of Universities and
the International Federation of Agricultural Producers.
30. The representative of Yugoslavia made a statement in exercise
of the right of reply.
31. At the 13th plenary meeting, on 11/June, statements were made
by the representatives of the Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Canada,
New Zealand, Bhutan, Ukraine and Nicaragua. The observer for
Palestine also made a statement.
32. At the same meeting, the representative of the Department of
Economic and Social Development of the United Nations Secretariat made
a statement. Statements were also made by the representatives of the
World Meteorological Organization and the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade. The representatives of the following intergovernmental
organizations made statements: the Organization of American States
and the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation. A statement
was made by the representative of the Kenyan Youth Organization, a
non-governmental organization.
33. At the 14th plenary meeting, on 11/June, statements were made
by the representatives of the Comoros, Peru, Suriname, El Salvador,
Sri Lanka, Fiji, the Congo, Honduras, Singapore, Qatar,
Czechoslovakia, Trinidad and Tobago, Viet Nam, Venezuela, Lebanon and
Afghanistan.
34. At the same meeting, the representatives of the International
Court of Justice and the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office made
statements. The representatives of the following intergovernmental
organizations made statements: the Commonwealth Secretariat and the
International Committee of the Red Cross. Statements were also made
by the following non-governmental organizations: the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Greenbelt Movement.
35. Also at the same meeting, several children made statements on
behalf of the world's children.
Chapter IV
REPORT OF THE MAIN COMMITTEE AND ACTION
TAKEN BY THE CONFERENCE
A. Report of the Main Committee
1. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June 1992, the Conference approved
the organization of its work as set out in document A/CONF.151/3, and
decided to allocate agenda items 9 (Adoption of agreements on
environment and development) and 10 (Signature of Conventions) to the
Main Committee, which was to submit its recommendations to the
Conference.
2. The Main Committee had before it the following documents:
(a) Note by the Secretary-General of the Conference on Agenda/21
(A/CONF.151/4 (Part I, Part II and Corr.1, Part III and Part/IV and
Corr.1));
(b) Note by the Secretary-General of the Conference on the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development (A/CONF.151/5);
(c) Note by the Secretary-General of the Conference containing the
non-legally binding authoritative statement of principles for a global
consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development
of all types of forests (A/CONF.151/6);
(d) Note by the Secretary-General of the Conference transmitting
to the Conference the Tokyo Declaration on Financing Global
Environment and Development, adopted by the Eminent Persons' Meeting
on Financing Global Environment and Development, Tokyo,
15-17/April/1992 (A/CONF.151/7);
(e) Report of the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change,
Mr./Jean/Ripert (France), on behalf of the Committee (A/CONF.151/8);
(f) Letter dated 4 June 1992 from the head of the delegation of
Chile to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
addressed to the Secretary-General of the Conference (A/CONF.151/9);
(g) Report of the Secretary-General on protection and preservation
of the marine environment (A/CONF.151/10);
(h) Letter dated 3 June 1992 from the President of the State
Council of Viet Nam to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and
the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (A/CONF.151/11);
(i) Note verbale dated 5 May 1992 from the Permanent
Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (A/CONF.151/12);
(j) Letter dated 20 May 1992 from the Executive Director of the
United Nations International Drug Control Programme to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (A/CONF.151/13);
(k) Letter dated 30 May 1992 from the Minister of External
Relations of Brazil to the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (A/CONF.151/14);
(l) Letter dated 21 May 1992 from the Permanent Representative of
Mexico to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(A/CONF.151/15);
(m) Note verbale dated 28 May 1992 from the Chargœ d'affaires a.i.
of the Permanent Mission of Barbados to the United Nations addressed
to the Secretary-General (A/CONF.151/16);
(n) Letter dated 9 June 1992 from the deputy head of the
delegation of the Russian Federation to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(A/CONF.151/18);
(o) Letter dated 10 June 1992 from the Permanent Representative of
Venezuela to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(A/CONF.151/19);
(p) Note verbale dated 9 June 1992 from the Embassy of Algeria to
the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (A/CONF.151/20);
(q) Letter dated 15 May 1992 from the Permanent Representative of
Yugoslavia to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (A/CONF.151/21);
(r) Letter dated 9 June 1992 from the Executive Secretary of the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and from the
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development of Chile to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (A/CONF.151/22);
(s) Letter dated 12 June 1992 from the Permanent Representative of
Mongolia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(A/CONF.151/23);
(t) Letter dated 11 June 1992 from the Minister for Environment
and Public Works of Greece to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (A/CONF.151/24);
(u) Note verbale dated 12 June 1992 from the Embassy of Morocco to
the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (A/CONF.151/25);
(v) Note by the Secretary-General of the Conference containing a
list of institutional proposals arising from the various sectoral and
intersectoral components of Agenda/21 (A/CONF.151/CRP.1);
(w) Report of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development on the work of its fourth
session (A/CONF.151/PC/128 and Corr.1);
(x) Report of the Secretary-General on further substantive
follow-up of General Assembly resolutions 42/186 and 42/187 by
Governments and organizations of the United Nations system
(A/47/121-E/1992/15);
(y) Letter dated 8 May 1992 from the Chargœ d'affaires a.i. of the
Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General (A/47/203).
3. The Chairman of the Main Committee was Tommy Koh (Singapore), who
was elected by acclamation at the 1st plenary meeting of the
Conference, on 3/June.
4. At its 1st and 2nd meetings, on 3 and 4/June, the Main Committee
elected the following officers by acclamation:
Vice-Chairmen: Bedrich Moldan (Czechoslovakia)
Nabil A. Elaraby (Egypt)
J. G. W. Alders (Netherlands)
Vicente Sanchez (Chile)
5. At the 4th meeting, on 5 June, on the proposal of the Chairman, the
Main Committee agreed to appoint Bedrich Moldan (Czechoslovakia) as
Rapporteur, in addition to his functions as Vice-Chairman.
6. At the 1st meeting, on the proposal of the Chairman, the Main
Committee decided to establish eight contact groups and appoint eight
coordinators on the following issues:
(a) Financial resources and mechanisms: Coordinator,
Rubens/Ricupero (Brazil);
(b) Transfer of technology: Coordinator, J. G. W. Alders
(Netherlands);
(c) Atmosphere: Coordinator, Bo Kjellœn (Sweden);
(d) Forest principles: Coordinator, Charles Liburd (Guyana);
(e) Biodiversity and biotechnology: Coordinator, Vicente Sanchez
(Chile);
(f) Freshwater resources: Coordinator, Bukar Shaib (Nigeria);
(g) International legal instruments and mechanisms: Coordinator,
Nabil/A. Elaraby (Egypt);
(h) International institutional arrangements: Coordinator,
Razail/Ismail (Malaysia).
7. Also at the 1st meeting, the Committee heard statements by the
Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Chairman of the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Convention on Biological
Diversity.
8. The Main Committee considered item 9 at its 2nd to 8th meetings,
from 3 to 6 and on 10 June. In accordance with decisions 4/4 A to I
of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (A/CONF.151/PC/128 and Corr.1, annex I),
the Main Committee reviewed the draft chapters of Agenda/21
(A/CONF.151/4 (Part I, Part II and Corr.1, Part III, and Part IV and
Corr.1)), which had been approved by the Preparatory Committee, as
orally amended and subject to further consideration of the bracketed
parts.
9. The Main Committee approved the amendments to the text of Agenda/21
(A/CONF.151/L.3/Add.1-6, Add.6/Corr.1, Add.7-12, Add.12/Corr.1,
Add.13-40, 43 and 44) made on the basis of the informal consultations
held by the contact groups and recommended to the Conference that it
adopt the text as amended.
10. At the 8th meeting, on 10 June, in accordance with Preparatory
Committee decision 4/10, the Main Committee also reviewed the proposal
by the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee on the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development (A/CONF.151/5). On the proposal of its
Chairman, the Main Committee approved, by acclamation, the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development and recommended it to the
Conference for adoption. The Declaration was subsequently issued in
document A/CONF.151/5/Rev.1.
11. At the same meeting, in accordance with Preparatory Committee
decision/4/7, the Main Committee reviewed the note by the
Secretary-General of the Conference containing the non-legally binding
authoritative statement of principles for a global consensus on the
management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of
forests (A/CONF.151/6). The Coordinator of the contact group on
forest principles, Mr. Charles Liburd (Guyana), introduced amendments
to the statement of principles, which had been agreed upon during the
informal consultations held by the contact group. The Main Committee
approved those amendments and other amendments proposed orally and
submitted its recommendations to the Conference. The statement of
principles, as amended, was subsequently issued as document
A/CONF.151/6/Rev.1.
12. The report of the Main Committee was issued in documents
A/CONF.151/L.3 and Add.1-6, Add.6/Corr.1, Add.7-12, Add.12/Corr.1 and
Add.13-44.
B. Action taken by the Conference
13. At its 19th/plenary meeting, on 14 June, the Conference had
before it a draft resolution (A/CONF.151/L.4/Rev.1) entitled "Adoption
of texts on environment and development", sponsored by the delegation
of Brazil. Annexed to that draft resolution were the Rio Declaration
on Environment and Development, Agenda/21 and the non-legally binding
authoritative statement of principles for a global consensus on the
management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of
forests.
14. The Conference adopted the draft resolution. For the final
text, see chapter/I, resolution/1.
15. Before the draft resolution was adopted, the representatives
of the following States made comments or expessed reservations:
United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Kuwait,
Philippines, Pakistan (on behalf of the States Members of the United
Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China), Colombia,
France, Portugal (on behalf of the States members of the European
Economic Community) and Mauritius. The observer for Palestine made a
statement.
16. The Government of the United States of America submitted the
following written statement:
Rio Declaration
Principle 3
The United States does not, by joining consensus on the Rio
Declaration, change its long-standing opposition to the so-called
"right to development". Development is not a right. On the
contrary, development is a goal we all hold, which depends for its
realization in large part on the promotion and protection of the
human rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The United States understands and accepts the thrust of
principle 3 to be that economic development goals and objectives
must be pursued in such a way that the development and
environmental needs of present and future generations are taken
into account. The United States cannot agree to, and would
disassociate itself from, any interpretation of principle 3 that
accepts a "right to development", or otherwise goes beyond that
understanding.
Principle 7
The United States understands and accepts that principle/7
highlights the special leadership role of the developed countries,
based on our industrial development, our experience with
environmental protection policies and actions, and our wealth,
technical expertise and capabilities.
The United States does not accept any interpretation of
principle/7 that would imply a recognition or acceptance by the
United States of any international obligations or liabilities, or
any diminution in the responsibilities of developing countries.
Principle 12
The United States understands that, in certain situations,
trade measures may provide an effective and appropriate means of
addressing environmental concerns, including long-term sustainable
forest management concerns and environmental concerns outside
national jurisdiction, subject to certain disciplines.
Principle 23
The United States understands that nothing in this Declaration
prejudices or predetermines the status of any territories under
occupation or the natural resources that appertain to such
territories. The United States further understands that this
Declaration does not prejudge negotiations to achieve a just and
lasting peace in the Middle East, including issues relating to
natural resources and their management. The United States also
understands that this Declaration does not affect the rights and
duties of occupying Powers under the laws of war.
Agenda 21 and authoritative statement of forest principles
Trade measures taken for environmental purposes
The United States accepts the references in Agenda/21 and the
forest principles to trade measures taken for environmental
purposes subject to the same understanding stated for Principle 12
of the Rio Declaration.
Technology cooperation
The United States strongly believes that adequate and
effective protection of intellectual property rights is an
essential component of any international technology cooperation
effort aimed at environmental protection and/or development
assistance. Such protection is essential to provide incentives for
innovation in the development of environmentally sound and
appropriate technologies, and to facilitate access to and transfer
and dissemination of such technologies.
The United States understands the provisions of the forest
principles and Agenda/21 regarding access to and transfer of
technology to mean that, in the case of technologies and know-how
subject to intellectual property rights, such access and transfer
shall be on freely negotiated, mutually agreed terms that recognize
and are consistent with the adequate and effective protection of
those rights.
Biotechnology
The United States understands that biotechnology is in no way
an intrinsically unsafe process. The United States accepts to
consider the need for and feasibility of internationally agreed
guidelines on safety in biotechnology releases, and to consider
studying the feasibility of guidelines which could facilitate
national legislation on liability and compensation, subject to this
understanding.
Sharing of benefits derived from biological and genetic resources
The United States understands the references to appropriate
measures for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived
from biological and genetic resources in Agenda/21 to mean such
measures as may be mutually agreed between the sources and users of
these resources, under conditions that recognize and are fully
consistent with the adequate and effective protection of
intellectual property rights. In addition, references to the
sharing of benefits derived from the use of biological and genetic
resources are understood to be without regard to the source of such
resources.
Right to socio-economic development on a sustainable basis
The United States understands the words "right to
socio-economic development on a sustainable basis" in the forest
principles on the same basis as stated for Principle/3 of the Rio
Declaration.
ODA targets
The United States is not among those countries that have
affirmed an overseas development assistance target. Such a target
would detract from the more important issues of the effectiveness
and quality of aid and the policies in the recipient country. The
United States emphasizes that, with respect to chapter/33,
paragraph/15 [paragraph 33.13 of the final text], it is one of the
"other developed countries" that "agree to make their best efforts
to increase" their level of ODA, "in line with their support for
reform efforts in developing countries". The United States has
traditionally been the largest aid donor in volume terms and will
continue to provide high-quality aid on a case-by-case basis, in a
way that encourages reform efforts in developing countries.
17. The Government of Saudi Arabia submitted the following written
comments:
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has participated in the
deliberations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development with a view to achieving comprehensive, balanced and
fair conclusions. The conclusions reached do not ensure the
required comprehensiveness, fairness and balance between
environment and development. Serious gaps and imbalances still
remain in many sections of Agenda/21 and the authoritative
statement for a global consensus on the management, conservation
and sustainable development of all types of forests.
The following are examples of some serious unacceptable gaps
and imbalances:
1. Agenda/21:
(a) The drafting of Agenda/21 promotes the approach of
ignoring the great importance of scientific certainty as a basis
for any international measure necessary to tackle the issue of the
atmosphere and climate change;
(b) Consequently, the drafting would encourage the adoption of
measures that would lead, in our considered opinion, to serious
imbalance in the world economy and the economies of developing
countries;
(c) The marked imbalance in dealing with questions relevant to
the interrelated issues of environment and energy would lead to
discrimination against oil, a clear observable conclusion of the
draft;
(d) The promotion of the utilization of unsafe and
environmentally unsound technology and energy sources, such as
nuclear energy;
(e) The promotion of economically non-cost-effective measures;
(f) The imbalance in tackling sinks;
2. The authoritative statement for a global consensus on the
management, conservation and sustainable development of all
types of forests:
The international omission of the basic principles that
recognize the important role of forests in preserving the
ecological balance, in particular the role in carbon fixation.
18. The Government of Argentina submitted the following written
comments:
The Government of Argentina wishes to emphasize the importance
of the objective stated in paragraph/9.23 (b) of Agenda/21 and the
related statements in the programmes on reducing health risks from
environmental pollution and hazards (para./6.42/(i)); the
evaluation of the effects of ultraviolet radiation on plants and
animals caused by the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer
(paras./14.102 and 14.104), and addressing critical uncertainties
for the management of the marine environment and climate change
(paras./17.98, 17.100/(e) and 17.111). The Government also wishes
to point out that it considers paragraphs/9.24/(d) and 17.107 as
referring to the concept of reparation and that "appropriate
remedial measures" include adequate compensation.
The Government also wishes to state that the intergovernmental
conference referred to in paragraph 17.49/(e) of Agenda/21 should
consider fishing on the high seas and straddling fish stocks and
highly
migratory fish stocks that are found on the high seas in the area
adjacent to the EEZ. The conference should give special
consideration to the interests of coastal States, as reflected in
article 63.2 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea.
19. The Government of Kuwait submitted the following written
statement:
Agenda/21 is an agreed set of recommendations addressing
global issues on the environment and development and thus should
reflect the concerns of all States and not call for actions that
may be discriminatory in nature, result in damaging the social,
economic and other national interests of any State, or limit its
social and economic development prospects. Agenda/21 does not meet
these criteria in some of the major areas, for example:
1. Chapter 9 fails to conform with the spirit and objectives of
this Conference, as it neglects to explicitly affirm that all
sources of energy must be environmentally safe and sound, and it
advocates the use of certain types of energy sources and
technologies without specifically qualifying them to be
environmentally safe and sound.
2. That the economic viability of energy technologies and energy
sources is an essential condition for achieving the maximum
benefits from the use of all resources has not been duly
emphasized. This approach encourages economic inefficiency and
will be detrimental to sustainable development.
3. The promotion of increased use of economic measures and market
instruments as well as pricing will lead to economic and trade
distortion, and discriminatory practices against some sources of
energy. This will be damaging to the global economy. We believe
the appropriate policies and measures should be left to Governments
and not specified in Agenda/21, particularly chapters 4, 8 and 9.
4. In order to minimize the adverse impact on the atmosphere, it
is essential to give equal consideration and treatment to sources,
sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, Agenda/21
overemphasizes sources and fails to adequately address sinks and
reservoirs. We believe that it is of utmost importance to promote
sustainable management, preservation and enhancement of all sinks
and reservoirs. In this context, there is an urgent need to limit
and reduce the rate of deforestation. We feel that these issues
have not been adequately addressed in Agenda/21, particularly
chapter 9.
5. There is an overemphasis on the increase in use of new and
renewable energy systems and sources. The increasing needs for
energy in developing countries will be best served by promoting the
best available sources of energy that are environmentally safe and
sound and economically viable, especially those which have greater
potential than new and renewable sources.
6. In dealing with the subject of climate change, chapter 9 fails
to adequately address the social and economic consequences of
mitigation and of response measures to potential climate change.
In order to avoid costly and premature measures, it is prudent to
promote greater understanding of all relevant issues relating to
climate change.
For these reasons, the State of Kuwait registers its
reservations on chapters 4, 8 and 9.
20. The Government of the Philippines submitted the following
written statement:
In so far as the Philippine delegation is concerned, military
establishments referred to in subparagraph/23/(h)
[paragraph/20.22/(h) of the final text] of chapter 20 of Agenda/21
include foreign military facilities under the full operational
control of Governments, in particular those not concerned by
agreements with provisions specific to the treatment and disposal
of hazardous wastes.
21. The Government of France submitted the following written
statement:
With regard to chapter 26 of Agenda/21 on indigenous people,
the French delegation wishes to state solemnly, as it did at the
fourth session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, that in respect of the
specific rules and measures proposed for indigenous people in this
document and in other chapters of Agenda/21 and in accordance with
article/2 of the French Constitution, all French citizens are equal
under the laws of the Republic, without distinction as to origin,
race or religion.
This statement also applies to the corresponding principle in
the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and in the
statement of forest principles.
22. The delegation of Palestine submitted the following written
statement:
The delegation of Palestine wishes to put on record our great
appreciation for the inclusion in paragraph/1.5 [paragraph/1.6 of
the final text] of Agenda/21 of the following phrase: "in full
respect of all the principles contained in the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development". This, to the Palestinian people
under Israeli occupation, signifies, in particular, the principles
in paragraph/23 of the Declaration and full recognition of the
applicability of international instruments such as the fourth
Geneva Convention, relative to peoples under foreign occupation.
Chapter V
REPORT OF THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
1. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 3 June 1992, the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, in accordance with rule 4
of the rules of procedure of the Conference, appointed a Credentials
Committee, based on that of the Credentials Committee of the General
Assembly of the United Nations at its forty-sixth session, consisting
of the following nine members: Belgium, Belize, Chile, China,
Lesotho, Russian Federation, Singapore, Togo and United States of
America.
2. The Credentials Committee held one meeting, on 9 June 1992.
3. Mr. Michel Delfosse (Belgium) was unanimously elected Chairman of
the Committee.
4. The Committee had before it a memorandum by the Secretary-General
dated 8/June 1992 on the status of credentials of representatives
participating in the Conference. Additional information on
credentials received by the Secretary-General after the issuance of
the memorandum was provided to the Committee by its Secretary.
5. As noted in paragraph 1 of the memorandum of the Secretary-General,
as updated by the additional information received, formal credentials
issued by the head of State or Government or by the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, as provided for in rule 3 of the rules of procedure,
had been received by the Secretary-General, for the representatives of
the following 95 States participating in the Conference: Afghanistan,
Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil,
Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad,
Chile, China, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia,
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea,
Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada,
Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic
of), Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lesotho,
Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi,
Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Morocco,
Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Peru,
Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis,
Saint Lucia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden,
Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and
Tobago, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay,
Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia and Zimbabwe. In addition, in
the case of the European Economic Community, credentials had been
submitted for its representatives by the President of the European
Commission.
6. As noted in paragraph 2 of the memorandum, as updated, information
concerning the appointment of representatives participating in the
Conference had been communicated by means of facsimile or cable or in
the form of letters or notes verbale from ministries, permanent
missions to the United Nations or other government offices or
authorities, by the following 83 States participating in the
Conference: Albania, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Benin, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic,
Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Djibouti,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia,
Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq,
Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Marshall
Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Namibia, New
Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea,
Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of
Moldova, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome
and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Suriname, Turkey, Uganda, United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of
Tanzania, United States of America, Vanuatu, Zaire and Zambia.
7. The representative of the United States stated that his delegation
did not believe that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
existed. Furthermore, his delegation did not consider
Serbia-Montenegro to be the continuation of, or sole successor to, the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, his delegation
would be willing to accept Yugoslavia at the present Conference with a
reservation to the effect that Serbia- Montenegro was not entitled to
assume the seat of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
in international organizations, including the United Nations.
However, the United States believed that the United Nations Security
Council and General Assembly were the appropriate bodies to resolve
the issue of the membership of Serbia-Montenegro in the United
Nations. Thus, while not making an objection in the present forum,
the United States delegation wished to register its reservation.
8. The representative of the Russian Federation stated that his
delegation also believed that the question of the membership of the
United Nations was within the exclusive competence of the Security
Council and the General Assembly. His delegation was ready to
recognize the credentials of Yugoslavia for the purposes of the
present Conference.
9. The Chairman proposed that, taking into account the reservation
that had been expressed, the Committee accept the credentials of all
the representatives mentioned in the memorandum of the
Secretary-General, on the understanding that formal credentials for
representatives referred to in paragraph/2 of the Secretary-General's
memorandum, would be communicated to the Secretary-General as soon as
possible. The following draft resolution was proposed by the Chairman
for adoption by the Committee:
The Credentials Committee,
Having examined the credentials of the representatives to the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development referred to
in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the memorandum of the Secretary-General dated
8 June 1992,
Taking into account the reservation expressed during the debate,
Accepts the credentials of the representatives concerned.
10. The draft resolution was adopted by the Committee without a
vote.
11. Subsequently, the Chairman proposed that the Committee
recommend to the Conference the adoption of a draft resolution (see
para./12 below). The proposal was adopted by the Committee without a
vote.
Recommendation of the Credentials Committee
12. The Credentials Committee recommends to the Conference the
adoption of the following draft resolution:
"Credentials of representatives to the Conference"
"The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
"Approves the report of the Credentials Committee."
Action taken by the Conference
13. At the 13th plenary meeting, on 11 June 1992, the Conference
considered the report of the Credentials Committee (A/CONF.151/17).
14. The representative of Portugal, speaking on behalf of the
European Economic Community, stated that the Community and its members
had not accepted the automatic continuity of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia in international organizations, including the United
Nations, and reserved their position on the question. The
representative of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia made a statement
in reply.
15. The Conference then adopted the draft resolution recommended
by the Committee. For the final text, see chapter I, resolution 3.
Chapter VI
SUMMIT SEGMENT OF THE CONFERENCE
The Summit Segment of the Conference was held on 12 and
13/June/1992. One hundred and two heads of State or Government or
their personal representatives made statements. The statements are
reproduced in volume/V of the present report.
Chapter VII
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE
1. The Rapporteur-General introduced the report of the Conference
(A/CONF.151/L.2 and Add.1-3) at the 19th plenary meeting, on
14/June/1992.
2. At the same meeting, the Conference adopted the draft report and
authorized the Rapporteur-General to complete the report, in
conformity with the practice of the United Nations, with a view to its
submission to the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session.
3. Also at the same meeting, the representative of Pakistan, on behalf
of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the
Group of 77 and China, introduced a draft resolution (A/CONF.151/L.5)
expressing the Conference's gratitude to the host country.
Subsequently, Australia (on behalf of the Western European and other
States) and the Russian Federation (on behalf of the Eastern European
States) made statements and joined in sponsoring the draft resolution.
4. The Conference then adopted the draft resolution. For the final
text, see chapter/I, resolution 2.
Closure of the Conference
5. At the 19th plenary meeting, statements were made by the
representatives of Pakistan (on behalf of the Asian States), the
Russian Federation (on behalf of the Eastern European States), Mexico
(on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean States), Australia (on
behalf of the Western European and other States), India, the United
States of America, the Syrian Arab Republic (on behalf of the
Executive Office of the Arab Ministers in charge of Environment and
Development), Japan, China, Canada (also on behalf of Australia and
New/Zealand), Croatia, the United Republic of Tanzania (on behalf of
the African States), Tunisia, Malaysia, Lebanon and Iceland (on behalf
also of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden).
6. After statements had been made by the Secretary-General of the
United Nations and the Secretary-General of the Conference, the
President of the Conference made a concluding statement and declared
the Conference closed.
Annex I
LIST OF DOCUMENTS
Symbol Title or description
A/CONF.151/1 and Corr.1 Provisional agenda
A/CONF.151/2 Provisional rules of procedure: note by
the Secretary-General of the Conference
A/CONF.151/3 Organization of work, including
establishment of the Main Committee of
the Conference: note by the Secretariat
A/CONF.151/4 (Part I, Part IIAdoption of agreements on environment
and
and Corr.1, Part III and development: Agenda 21: note by the
Part IV and Corr.1) Secretary-General of the Conference
A/CONF.151/5 Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development: note by the
Secretary-General of the Conference
A/CONF.151/5/Rev.1 The Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/6 Non-legally binding authoritative
statement of principles for a global
consensus on the management,
conservation and sustainable development
of all types of forests: note by the
Secretary-General of the Conference
A/CONF.151/6/Rev.1 Non-legally binding authoritative
statement of principles for a global
consensus on the management,
conservation and sustainable development
of all types of forests
A/CONF.151/7 Adoption of agreements on environment
and development: note by the
Secretary-General of the Conference
A/CONF.151/8 Report of the Chairman of the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee
for a Framework Convention on Climate
Change, Mr./Jean/Ripert (France) on
behalf of the Committee
A/CONF.151/9 Letter dated 4/June/1992 from the head
of the delegation of Chile to the United
Nations Conference on Environment and
Development addressed to the
Secretary-General of the Conference
A/CONF.151/10 Protection and preservation of the
marine environment: report of the
Secretary-General
A/CONF.151/11 Letter dated 3/June/1992 from the
President of the State Council of Viet
Nam to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development
A/CONF.151/12 Note verbale dated 5/May/1992 from the
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to
the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/13 Letter dated 20/May/1992 from the
Executive Director of the United Nations
International Drug Control Programme to
the Secretary-General of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/14 Letter dated 30 May 1992 from the
Minister of External Relations of Brazil
to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/15 Letter dated 21 May 1992 from the
Permanent Representative of Mexico to
the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/16 Note verbale dated 28/May/1992 from the
Chargœ d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent
Mission of Barbados to the United
Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General
A/CONF.151/17 Report of the Credentials Committee
A/CONF.151/18 Letter dated 9 June 1992 from the deputy
head of the delegation of the Russian
Federation to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development
A/CONF.151/19 Letter dated 10 June 1992 from the
Permanent Representative of Venezuela to
the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/20 Note verbale dated 9 June 1992 from the
Embassy of Algeria to the secretariat of
the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development
A/CONF.151/21 Letter dated 15 May 1992 from the
Permanent Representative of Yugoslavia
to the United Nations Office at Geneva
addressed to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development
A/CONF.151/22 Letter dated 9 June 1992 from the
Executive Secretary of the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean and from the Minister of
Housing and Urban Development of Chile
to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/23 Letter dated 12 June 1992 from the
Permanent Representative of Mongolia to
the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/24 Letter dated 11 June 1992 from the
Minister for Environment and Public
Works of Greece to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development
A/CONF.151/25 Note verbale dated 12/June/1992 from the
Embassy of Morocco to the secretariat of
the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development
A/CONF.151/L.1 Report of the pre-Conference
consultations held at Riocentro
Conference Centre
A/CONF.151/L.2 and Add.1-3 Draft report of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and
Development
A/CONF.151/L.3 and Add.1-6,Report of the Main Committee
Add.6/Corr.1, Add.7-12,
Add.12/Corr.1 and Add.13-44
A/CONF.151/L.4/Rev.1 Adoption of agreements on environment
and development: draft resolution
submitted by Brazil
A/CONF.151/L.5 Expression of gratitude to the host
country: draft resolution submitted by
China and Pakistan (on behalf of the
States Members of the United Nations
that are members of the Group of 77)
A/CONF.151/L.6 Draft chapter 33 of Agenda 21
A/CONF.151/CRP.1 List of institutional proposals arising
from the various sectoral and
intersectoral components of Agenda 21:
note by the Secretary-General of the
Conference
A/CONF.151/INF/1 Information for participants
A/CONF.151/INF/2 and Add.1-7Provisional list of delegations to the
United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development
A/CONF.151/INF/3 and Add.1-4List of documents circulated for
information
A/CONF.151/PC/128 and Corr.1Report of the Preparatory Committee for
the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development on the work
of its fourth session
A/47/121-E/1992/15 Further substantive follow-up of General
Assembly resolutions 42/186 and 42/187
by Governments and organizations of the
United Nations system: report of the
Secretary-General
A/47/203 Letter dated 8 May 1992 from the Chargœ
d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission
of Malaysia to the United Nations
addressed to the Secretary-General
Annex II
OPENING STATEMENTS
Statement by Boutros/Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General
of the United Nations
In the subjects we shall discuss during the Conference which I have
the great honour to open at this moment, nothing could be more risky
than to succumb to the power of words and to limit ourselves to that.
Nothing would be more dangerous than to believe or to give the
impression that just because things are said, the challenges have been
met. And yet I do not think that I am succumbing to the power of
words in saying that this is an historic moment. Historic - yes, I
believe that it is, and I would put forward three reasons for this -
each one in itself capable of moving us greatly as this Conference,
which the entire world will follow, begins.
Let us try to grasp, first of all, what this Earth Summit means:
here we have a gathering of nations, united before us, represented at
the highest level by their leaders, supported by an exceptional
rallying of peoples, and determined to reflect - and then act - in
concert to protect their planet. This meeting is proof that we have
understood how very fragile our Earth - and the life it shelters - is:
this is the first reason, then, why it is historic and reflects a
radical change in the way man looks at himself.
In the past, the individual was surrounded by nature so abundant
that its immensity was terrifying. This was still true at the
beginning of this century. All victories have been victories over
nature, from the wild beasts menacing the cavemen to the distances
separating communities. The wild beasts have been conquered, and so
have the distances, and taking both these conquests into account, we
can say that all of science has grown out of the conflict between man
and nature, with man moving forward by gradually taming an infinite
nature.
Yet, "the time of the finite world" has come, a world in which we
are "under house arrest": what this means is simply that nature no
longer exists in the classic sense of the term, and that henceforth
nature lies within the hands of man. It also means that man has
triumphed over his environment, a triumph nevertheless fraught with
danger. Finally, it means that there are no more cases to discover,
no more "new frontiers", and that every new triumph over nature will
in fact be a triumph over ourselves. Progress, then, is not
necessarily compatible with life; we may no longer take the logic of
the infinite for granted. It is this great epistemological break
which the Earth Summit may ultimately symbolize for historians.
This meeting is historic for a second, no less exalting, reason:
we are looking at a time-frame that extends far beyond the span of our
individual lives. The reflection and, especially the action for which
we are to lay the political foundation here will not be undertaken for
ourselves, or even for
our contemporaries. For we can still waste the planet's resources, at
our current pace, for a few decades more. We can still live, for a
few years or a few decades more, with the acid rain that is only
gradually destroying our forests, lakes, works of architecture and
even ourselves; we can stand it if the climate heats up by a few
degrees, if the biological diversity of our planet diminishes, if the
pollution of our waters continues, if the desertification of the
planet accelerates - we will always have enough forests, enough water,
enough natural resources. But we must realize that one day, when we
as individuals have ceased to exist, it will no longer be possible to
let things go on, or let things go, and that, ultimately, the storm
will break on the heads of future generations. For them, it will be
too late.
What we do here, then, we do for our grandchildren and, beyond, for
future generations. Our presence here is proof that we intend to give
precedence to time in the political sense - that is, history - over
our own personal history. We are here for the long term, which is
calculated in decades and centuries. This is the noblest aspect of
our collective efforts at Rio.
This moment is historic for a third reason, which derives from the
other two and has to do with the United Nations, which it is my honour
to head. It is a huge task which the Organization, together with all
those who have placed their hope in universalism, is tackling here.
Will we be able to show that men are capable of rising above the
conflicts of a different era to work together to tackle the immense
challenges that have been handed them? "The worst is always certain",
quipped the Spanish writer Unamuno. This might be true if we were to
leave in a week's time without having taken the difficult but crucial
decisions that are expected of us. We must therefore go beyond the
norm and bring our system to a higher plane. By whatever means, we
are in a sense condemned here to moving closer, even if by only a
step, to the virtuous planet, "al-ma'mura al-fadila", anticipated by
the Islamic philosopher Al-Farabi.
I am inclined towards optimism: first, when I think of the
positive developments that have taken place in international
cooperation in the past few years; then, when I think of all the
efforts, imagination and enthusiasm our Organization has managed to
elicit in the preparation of this meeting; and, finally, by the extent
of the influence that this meeting has. The United Nations has come a
long way. In the time since Stockholm, where at least some of the
issues that we will deal with today were discussed, the United Nations
has acquired experience and produced unparalleled talent, studies and
assessments which have had an impact in virtually every part of the
world. Remember, in 1972 we were pioneers. Let us continue to be
pioneers by building on the achievements and lessons we have learned
from our earlier efforts. I am thinking in particular of those
undertaken by the United Nations Environment Programme, but also of
those coming from a great many organizations within the United Nations
system, which have endeavoured to cooperate closely, and from
non-governmental organizations and independent commissions, often
bringing together eminent persons, and the unprecedented
amount of preparatory work, conferences of regional or linguistic
groups, seminars, reports, articles and books which have paved the way
for our efforts throughout the world. All this energy has converged
on Rio; in this context, allow me to express appreciation to Brazil,
our host country, and to its Government and its warm-hearted people
who are extending to us their vibrant hospitality. Since the
beginning of the preparatory work, they have shown a sincere and
ardent desire for the success of our Conference.
Unfortunately, I cannot thank everyone. However, let me at least
mention Mrs./Brundtland's report, whose theoretical advances have been
widely noted. Let me mention also the Chairman of the Preparatory
Committee, Ambassador/Tommy/Koh, whose diplomatic talents have once
again proved valuable, and Maurice/Strong and his team, who have
undertaken a kind of "thirteenth labour of Hercules". Such enthusiasm
and devotion incline me towards optimism: "Rio - an oversized job"
was the headline in one review. Oversized, yes, like the challenge to
which it is responding. For we are condemned to heroism: if we
succeed, the United Nations will have undergone trial by fire; the
Organization will have inscribed its name permanently in history.
However, before I turn to the action that is set out in the agenda, I
should first like to recapitulate the theoretical advances which, it
seems to me, have come to be generally accepted.
I do not know whether ideas make the world go round; in any event,
nothing is possible without them. We must begin, then, by an act of
collective reflection, which is also part of the work of the United
Nations, and we must equip ourselves with courage, for reflection
entails a risk: the risk that we will be forced to give up myths,
comfortable ways of thinking, sacred economic principles. Our
reflection has a common denominator, which is the central concept of
our Conference, and that is development. Development! The term has
enjoyed unprecedented glory. Yet, it has been through the preparatory
work for this Conference that the term has taken on its full meaning.
We now know that if we prove unable to expand the concept of
development further, we will find ourselves confronted with a paradox
that would make us smile if it did not mask so much suffering and
danger: the Earth is simultaneously suffering from underdevelopment
and from overdevelopment.
We must therefore expand the meaning of the term "development" as
we know it in the light of scientific developments and the challenges
that face us today. I believe that in the future, this expansion will
take place in two directions: the first is towards what we now call
"sustainable development"; the second is towards what I propose to
call "planetary development". Once again, in my mind these concepts
concern the entire world, North and South, East and West.
Let us take sustainable development first: it may be defined as
development that meets the needs of the present as long as resources
are renewed or, in other words, that does not compromise the
development of future generations. This is a new way of looking at
development, one which takes into account its persistence. It forces
us to realize that, just as the countries of the South face problems in
protecting the environment, the countries of the North must likewise deal with
the problems of overdevelopment. The countries of the North, like the
countries of the South, fail to respect the spirit of sustainable development.
We know, for example, that global warming is caused by the gases which
constitute the very underpinnings of industrialized societies. This
means that the lifestyle of rich countries is ecologically unsound,
and that their development cannot, at the present stage, be considered
"sustainable". We also know that it is in the poor countries that the
depletion of resources is most serious, given that those countries are
obliged to overwork the natural resources on which their survival
depends. They are compelled to sacrifice their future to eke out a
precarious daily existence in the present.
Thus, one point must be clearly stated: one cannot protect a
natural resource by denying its use to those who depend on it for
survival: the link between environmental protection and poverty does
not only concern large-scale production, but also everyday life,
particularly that of women, who have to provide for domestic needs,
for water or wood. That is why, in many countries action against
poverty helps protect the environment.
Let us stop, then, making a distinction between two aspects of the
same question - economy on the one hand and ecology on the other. Any
ecological disaster is an economic disaster. Moreover, the two words
have a common Greek root, "oiko", meaning "home". Mr. Gorbachev
suggested that Europe should become a "common home". Yet, the entire
universe is our "common home". Ecology comes from the Greek
"oikos-logos", that is, "the science of the home"; economy comes from
the Greek "oikonomia", that is, "good management of the home". They
amount to the same thing; ecology is, by its very nature, part of
economy.
This principle has both micro- and macroeconomic implications. It
has consequences for pricing in particular: since environmental
degradation entails a loss of social capital, as well as social costs,
this loss must be taken into account in the same way that an
investment is amortized. As nature is now entirely in man's hands, it
is quite normal to consider it, no longer as a given but as an
acquisition, an investment which must constantly be rolled over,
amortized just like other costs, salaries, financial expenditures and
raw materials. By including "nature costs", we are doing more than
protecting resources in the long term; we are enhancing the quality
and durability of goods, we are recycling waste and, ultimately, we
are saving. Produce, consume, but recycle, too: these are three key
concepts for the future.
I should like to emphasize this second theoretical advance, which
follows from the first, whether we call it "the new collective
security" or "planetary development".
Since time immemorial, mankind has had to face threats to its
security. Security evolves, however. To put it simply, I would say
that it is now becoming less and less a military matter - since in a
world in the process of unification any war is, in a way, a kind of civil war
- and is, instead acquiring an economic and ecological dimension. Let us see
what this means. First of all, it means that a portion of so-called
"security" spending in the old sense of the word, in other words
military spending, must be redirected towards planetary development
projects. Secondly, planetary development means debt for environment
swaps. Lastly, planetary development involves a third level of
effort: transfers of technology and financing, based, inter alia, on
the "polluter pays" principle. Here, projects abound which sometimes
include the creation or strengthening of institutions or, at the
least, of distribution mechanisms. It is not up to me to indicate a
preference among them, but their advantages and drawbacks must be
discussed, keeping ever present the need to arrive at clear and
concrete results.
For we absolutely must achieve concrete results. I realize, of
course, that some at least of these results may occasionally clash
with powerful vested interests. Let me say, however, that these
interests, like the others, must show concern for the long-term future
and take into account the inherent force of the feeling of equality
that moves all peoples of the planet and, quite simply, the force of
necessity. There can be no question that the wealthier one is, the
more responsibilities one has, and that the countries of the North,
first and foremost public opinion in those countries - and it is to
that public opinion that I am now talking - must realize that their
efforts are essential as regards both financing and technology. This
is what I meant by planetary development, the complement to
sustainable development, and the "new development" is all this: a
spirit and certain working principles. This new spirit must infuse
the way in which human beings look at things, at plants, at animals,
from the glassful of water discarded after a casual sip to the animals
whose species are dwindling rapidly in number. All these, the world's
riches, are not something we own but, as Saint-Exupœry wrote,
something we have on loan from our children.
I will now turn briefly to some of the specific issues on your
agenda. My friend and colleague, Maurice Strong, the
Secretary-General of the Conference, will comment on the items in
greater detail.
The progress made so far in reaching agreement on Agenda/21 is a
remarkable achievement. It demonstrates universal good will, as well
as the importance attached to this ambitious instrument. Agenda/21
will remain a key point of reference for the rest of the decade for
Governments and international organizations, as well as the
non-governmental community and the public at large.
I am also pleased that the Preparatory Committee was able to
transmit to you by consensus the Rio Declaration. This provides an
important political framework for the major programme of action
embodied in Agenda/21. I hope that you will be able to adopt this
Declaration here, and that if the reservations expressed by some
Governments require that you negotiate it further, the results of your
efforts will enhance its content.
More generally, I am pleased that the Preparatory Committee
succeeded in reaching agreement on so many important issues. It will
be your task to resolve those issues which could not be negotiated by
the Preparatory Committee and refine those on which only a broad
understanding was reached.
One such issue is that of resource transfer. I know that figures
have been suggested as to the total amount of additional resources
required by developing countries. What is needed in the first
instance is political will. If that is forthcoming, the necessary
resources should follow, even if the complete financial package is not
available immediately. I hope that by the end of this Conference a
first decisive step will have been taken which will visibly
demonstrate the collective good will and firm intention of donor
countries to launch the concept of planetary development.
I believe that the question of technology transfer must be viewed
from the same standpoint. The developing countries must have access
to the necessary technologies in order to embark on the new age of
planetary development. The issue is not merely one of transferring
know-how from one country to another, or one enterprise to another.
It is a question of building up capacities, both technological and
institutional. It is a question of ensuring cooperative research on
science and technology. I urge you to give special attention to
achieving progress on this critical issue.
I also hope that the progress made on the very important question
of forests, more specifically the draft principles on this issue, will
crystallize here into an agreement. These principles are, in my view,
a perfect microcosm of environment and development issues in general.
The progress already made on this issue again demonstrates the
willingness of all Governments to find a workable compromise in an
area where positions are difficult to reconcile.
Lastly, I should like to congratulate Governments on the agreements
reached on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
and the Convention on Biological Diversity, both of which will shortly
be opened here for signature. I should like to take this opportunity
particularly to commend Jean Ripert and Ambassador Vicente S nchez for
the exceptional efforts they made to promote a successful outcome.
I know the negotiations which produced these texts were long and
complex and sometimes controversial. Let us not forget, however, that
both represent a first for the Earth. In the case of biodiversity,
the Convention clearly reaffirms the fact that we, the community of
nations, are committed to conserving the work of creation and not
unravelling it. It represents a turning-point in the protection of
the life forms that nourish the Earth.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change launches
a process of cooperation, aimed at keeping greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere within safe limits. The initial level of commitment is not
as high as many would have wished. But a low threshold should
maximize participation/- which is one condition for effectiveness.
And the process of policy review should
improve commitments over time. States are now looking to the United
Nations to organize the immediate follow-up work. This demonstrates
that this Organization can well serve the needs of Member States in
dealing with fundamental issues of economy and ecology affecting real
national interests.
I have said that this is an historical moment. However, it will
only be so if our efforts on behalf of the planet endure. It will
only be so if the Rio Conference, the culmination of long
deliberations, also marks a new beginning. And by this I mean a new
point of departure for the United Nations system; for action by
States; and for the mobilization of all peoples of the world.
Secretariat preparations for this Conference have involved the
whole of the United Nations system, in a truly inter-agency endeavour.
The same approaches must guide and inspire the follow-up to the
Conference.
The role of the United Nations system in the implementation of the
results of the Conference was thoroughly reviewed at a recent
meeting/- the first held under my chairmanship - of the Administrative
Committee on Coordination, the body which brings together the
executive heads of all the specialized agencies of the United Nations
system, under the leadership of the Secretary-General. The Committee
is keenly aware of the great responsibilities which devolve on it in
this regard.
Individual agencies regard the follow-up to the Conference both as
major challenge and as an important new opportunity for progress in
their respective fields of competence - be it the promotion of health,
food and agriculture, the advancement of science and education,
training, infrastructure-building, or the provision of finance for
development.
Equally important, the follow-up to the Conference is seen by all
organizations of the system as a major new opportunity for effective
collective action. From this point of view, the outcome of this
Conference, and more particularly Agenda/21, will provide a common
point of reference in ensuring that agency actions in different
sectors/- and the capacities available to the ensemble of the system
for research and policy analysis, finance for development, the
technical assistance/- truly complement and reinforce each other in
promoting the cause of sustained and sustainable development.
Advancing those objectives - harnessing the full potential of the
United Nations system to meet the critical challenges of the future -
will be one of my major concerns throughout my term of office.
At the same time, I cannot emphasize too strongly that States will
be the principal instruments for the implementation of the decisions
and guidelines adopted here. Moreover, the protection of the planet
must be a universal effort involving all those living on it.
In this context, it is especially encouraging that the preparatory
work for this Conference has been characterized by such close
cooperation between countries at different stages of development and
between Governments and the scientific and academic communities and
non-governmental actors. These networks will have to be maintained
and strengthened.
In this area of sustainable development, more than in other areas,
we are in a situation where we have to take action in the face of
uncertainty. This is because we do not fully understand how
ecosystems function, because we have sometimes to work to a very long
time-scale, and because cause and effect are often separated in space.
It will therefore be important to ensure that emerging opinions among
scientists and experts receive full attention in decision-making
processes. We have to find innovative ways of promoting a dialogue
between science and politics in the context of the follow-up to this
Conference.
I wish in the same context to pay special tribute to the
non-governmental community. Over a thousand non-governmental
organizations are accredited to the Conference. They have contributed
a great deal to the preparatory process/- they have worked hard and
expect a lot from your deliberations. They should also have a
critical role in the follow-up.
These organizations represent the peoples of the world whose voice
is so clearly heard in the Preamble to the Charter of the United
Nations. They represent men and women/- and I note that there is an
article 20 of the draft Declaration which rightly focuses on women/-
managers and workers, writers and artists, and individuals from all
walks of life.
I see this Conference as a vast planet-wide endeavour. During the
preparatory process, actors of all kinds/- national and local
authorities, producers and consumers, community groups and many more -
were involved in forging the consensus which this Conference must now
cement. It is only through action by every one of us living on this
planet that we will succeed in achieving our goals.
Our Rio meeting has already aroused unprecedented interest
throughout the world. It has captured the imagination of people
everywhere.
As Secretary-General, new to the job but none the less well aware
of the constraints on the powers of Governments, and indeed of
international organizations, my hope is that what I may call the
"spirit of Rio"/- that is, the spirit of Planet Earth - will spread
throughout the world. The spirit of Rio must embody the full
awareness of the fragility of our planet. The spirit of Rio must lead
us to think constantly of the future, our children's future.
That is why, in opening this Conference, I am very moved when I
wish you success in your work. Let me end with these few simple
words: never will so much depend on what you do or do not do here/-
for yourselves, for others, for your children and grandchildren, for
the planet - for life in all its interdependent forms.
Statement by Fernando Collor, President of Brazil
and President of the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development
On behalf of the Brazilian People, I welcome you to our country.
We greet with open arms each and every one of the participants in the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
It is with a feeling of great honour and a deep sense of
responsiblity that I preside over the proceedings of this meeting,
which I am certain will be a landmark in the history of mankind.
A special word of thanks is due to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and also to the
Secretary-General of the Conference, Mr. Maurice Strong, for the
unrelenting efforts, on their part, which made possible, together with
the Government of Brazil, this remarkable event.
I belong to the generation that first launched a warning against a
mode of growth that was leading blindly to the extinction of life on
Earth.
Upon my inauguration, I promised to give priority and urgency to
environmental issues, as a response to a feeling that was becoming
increasingly strong among Brazilians and throughout the world.
Now, while solemnly opening the Rio Conference, I feel the emotion
of one who fulfils a commitment to his contemporaries, his fellow
countrymen and the international community.
On 14 June, when we return to our homes, the world will not be the
same as it is this morning, 3 June 1992.
The awareness of our duties will be stronger; the will to carry
them out more mature, the paths of cooperation more clearly set out
and consolidated.
The many roads that brought us to Rio were fraught with
uncertainties.
After all, we were negotiating something quite new; we were
imagining new international institutions, new patterns of relationship
among States.
Possessing tentative data and imperfect tools, we were trying to
make an inventory of rights and wrongs of the past, to identify the
problems of the present and to visualize the challenges that lay in
the future.
But we arrived here, moved by the will of the peoples we represent.
The issue of the environment is an offspring of the era of
democracy in which we live; it grows from social movements that
multiply spontaneously everywhere.
We cannot leave unanswered the aspirations of our fellow men, who
expect decisions capable of altering reality for the better.
The first fundamental achievement of this Conference is that it is
taking place at all: the very fact that today, in this room,
representatives of 180 countries, of all relevant international
organizations, and of a huge universe of non-governmental
organizations, can begin work on a set of texts already agreed on or
very near conclusion.
We have in our hands the task of developing and widening the
consensus arrived at during a long negotiating process.
As the title of the Conference indicates, we are here to make
progress in a cooperative task based on two fundamental ideas:
development and environment.
We accept the historic challenge and the ethical obligation of
forging a new model, in which progress will be necessarily synonymous
with well-being for all and with the preservation of nature.
As I have said on previous occasions, we cannot have an
environmentally sound planet in a socially unjust world.
These are goals that complement each other, in each community, in
each country, around the globe.
And I may give you Brazil as an example: a country that still has
so much to achieve in terms both of development and of conservation.
In sum, what we are striving for is to attain, in a harmonic
manner, the aspirations that are combined in the expression
"sustainable development", the key concept which must bring together
rich and poor, large and small countries, so that we may all achieve
prosperity and shorten the distances that still separate us.
We will find new ways, we will enter an era in which societies will
understand that nature is not only to be consumed but also to be
enjoyed.
In place of the present GNP and GDP indicators, we will have
something like a Gross Domestic Well-Being Indicator, which will
combine data on national revenues with elements that effectively
translate the degree of self-fulfilment of peoples, including freedom
and social harmony, cultural diversity, racial integration and respect
for the environment.
After two years of hard work, in addition to adopting a position of
dialogue, cooperation and even leadership in the international
treatment of environmental issues, my Administration has taken very
important decisions at the national level.
Among them, I would mention those that have brought about a
substantial reduction of deforestation in the Amazon region, as shown
by satellite images, and the extensive demarcation of lands occupied
by Indian communities, including the more than 94,000 square
kilometres of the Yanomami people.
As an additional demonstration of the Brazilian commitment to the
environmental cause, we offer our country as host to an international
institution that will pursue the goals which we will set for ourselves
here.
In underlining all that we share and all that brings us closer to
each other, I do not wish to give the impression that this is a
Conference only of celebration and of understanding.
Unfortunately, there still remain serious and persistent problems
to be overcome until international action may heed the voice of reason
and go down the straight road of solidarity and common interest.
Here, everyone can see that the most resilient enemy and the most
persistent foe are poverty and lack of opportunities.
To preside over this huge country brings daily joys over its
promises and daily dilemmas posed by a difficult national and
international moment.
I do not, however, give in to the temptation of admonishing those
who have more; even less do I intend to bring back a type of language
of confrontation that history has fortunately left behind.
Responsibility exists in sufficient amount to be attributed to all
of us. To do so, however, would be pointless. What we need is to
hope that the lessons of the past, both remote and recent, will not be
forgotten and will not have been in vain.
I must say, however, on behalf of all those still forced to live
with poverty, that we can and we must ask from the rich countries a
greater proof of brotherhood.
Without a global order with greater justice, there will be tranquil
prosperity for no one, for it will be impossible to attain the
stability needed for a lasting enjoyment of the riches produced by
man.
For all those who are aware of belonging to a wider human
community, the struggle to reduce inequalities must be a permanent
cause.
Despite all that was achieved during the preparatory work, in the
next 12 days many tasks and final adjustments remain and will
certainly impose upon us a very busy schedule.
The road we have travelled since Stockholm, in 1972, is a source of
inspiration and will give us additional motivation during this
Conference.
In that meeting, ideas and words that have become commonplace today
made their first appearance with the irresistible force of those
truths whose time has come.
The report of the international commission chaired by
Mrs./Gro/Harlem/Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, added to these
notions the fundamental concept of sustainable development.
From Rio, our leap into the future will be even greater than it was
20 years ago.
Freed from the chains with which for decades the cold war shackled
international negotiations, we can now tackle in a global manner
issues that are global.
Our concerns with climate and with the atmosphere, our concerns
with biodiversity, bring us to the very essence of life.
We must confront such wide-ranging and diverse issues by following
a clear line based on respect for, and the dignity of, the human
being.
I am certain that future generations will see this meeting as a
moment of wisdom and foresight.
Because of abusive consumption of nature and its resources, be they
renewable or not; because of widespread pollution; because of the
damage caused by world and regional wars; because of the stockpiling
of nuclear and chemical weapons; because of the failure of the
predatory modes of development, mankind owed itself this Conference.
It shall mark the birth of a new international social contract that
may take us, safely and soundly, beyond this century and this
millennium.
Agenda 21 reflects in its name and purpose the goals that this
meeting will strive to achieve.
More than any other subject, the environment requires planning in
the long run.
The small neglects of today may bring about irreparable damage
tomorrow.
We have the responsibility of putting into practice what we know,
so as to secure a better future for the whole of mankind.
May the Rio Conference be the harbinger of a new era, in which
science and technology will no longer "technify" life, but, on the
contrary, make it more humane, consolidating all that they have done
for our benefit and compensating for the damage they have caused to
nature and for their contribution to widening the gap between rich and
poor.
May this meeting also be an exhortation to peace.
There will be no healthy environment or equitable development if we
are not able to build a true and permanent peace among nations. This
must be a peace of fulfilment and of bounty, not simply a precarious
absence of conflicts.
We must bring the principle of solidarity to the community of
States.
I will welcome my colleagues, heads of State and Governments to the
Summit Meeting on 12 and 13 June, certain that we will be in a
position to offer them, ready and finished, all of the important texts
that we were mandated to prepare. I am confident that the Conference
will have the vision and the scope required by the cause of survival.
The image of the Statue of Christ the Redeemer lingers over this
building where we meet and can be seen on the horizon.
On behalf of each and every Brazilian, I renew our welcome to
Rio/de/Janeiro, where, 500 years later, the American continent no
longer awaits discovery but must now discover and reveal what man is
capable of achieving when the cause is just, the urgency great and
hope an inspiration.
May the New World be the cradle of the new times that we all long
for; may God protect and bless us.
Statement by Maurice F. Strong, Secretary-General of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
First, may I extend my warm congratulations to you, Mr./President,
on your election as Chairman of this Conference. I want also to
express to you, to your Government and your people, our deep gratitude
for the remarkable job you have done in preparing for this largest
summit conference ever, and for the warmth and generosity with which
you have welcomed us here. Our gratitude extends, too, to Governor
Brizola and Mayor Alencar who have joined you so wholeheartedly in
this.
I commend you, Mr. President and Secretary-General/Boutros-Ghali,
for your inspiring statements, which have made clear the awesome
nature of the challenges which confront this Conference. Indeed, it
will define the state of political will to save our planet and to make
it, in the words of the Earth Pledge, a secure and hospitable home for
present and future generations.
This is not a single-issue Conference. Rather, it deals with the
overall cause and effect system through which a broad range of human
activities interact to shape our future.
Twenty years ago at Stockholm, representatives of 113 of the
world's nations took the first steps on a new journey of hope for the
future of our "Only One Earth". Today, in this beautiful city of Rio
de Janeiro, you have come together, as representatives of more than
178 nations, in this unprecedented parliament of the planet, to take
the decisions needed to rekindle that hope and give it new substance
and impetus. For, despite significant progress made since 1972 in
many areas, the hopes ignited at Stockholm remain largely unfulfilled.
As the World Commission on Environment and Development made clear
in its landmark report, Our Common Future, the environment, natural
resources and life-support systems of our planet have continued to
deteriorate, while global risks like those of climate change and ozone
depletion have become more immediate and acute. Yet all the
environmental deterioration and risks we have experienced to date have
occurred at levels of population and human activity that are much less
than they will be in the period ahead. And the underlying conditions
that have produced this dilemma remain as dominant driving forces that
are shaping our future and threatening our survival.
Central to the issues we are going to have to deal with are
patterns of production and consumption in the industrial world that
are undermining the Earth life-support systems; the explosive increase
in population, largely in the developing world, that is adding a
quarter of a million people daily; deepening disparities between rich
and poor that leave 75/per/cent of humanity struggling to live; and an
economic system that takes no account of ecological costs or damage -
one which views unfettered growth as progress. We have been the most
successful species ever; we are now a species out of control.
The concentration of population growth in developing countries and
economic growth in the industrialized countries has deepened, creating
imbalances which are unsustainable, in either environmental or
economic terms. Since 1972, world population has grown by 1.7/billion
people, equivalent to almost the entire population at the beginning of
this century; 1.5/billion of them live in developing countries, which
are the least able to support them. This cannot continue. Population
must be stabilized, and rapidly. If we do not do it, nature will, and
much more brutally.
During the same 20-year period, world GDP increased by
$20/trillion. Yet only 15/per/cent of the increase accrued to
developing countries. Over 70/per/cent went to the already rich
countries, adding further to their disproportionate pressures on the
environment, resources and life-support systems of our planet. This
is the other part of the population problem: the fact that every
child born in the developed world consumes 20 to 30 times the
resources of the planet than any third world child.
The same processes of economic growth which have produced such
unprecedented levels of wealth and power for the rich minority have
also given rise to the risks and imbalances that now threaten the
future of rich and poor alike. This growth model, and the patterns of
production and consumption which have accompanied it, is not
sustainable for the rich; nor can it be replicated by the poor. To continue
along this pathway could lead to the end of our civilization.
Yet the poor need economic and social development as the only means
of relieving the vicious circle of poverty in which they are caught
up. Their right to development cannot be denied; nor should it be
impeded by conditions unilaterally imposed on the financial flows or
trade of developing countries.
The rich must take the lead in bringing their development under
control, reducing substantially their impacts on the environment,
leaving environmental "space" for developing countries to grow. The
wasteful and destructive lifestyles of the rich cannot be maintained
at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of the poor, and of nature.
For the rich, the transition to sustainable development need not
require regression to a difficult or primitive life. On the contrary,
it can lead to a richer life of expanded opportunities for
self-realization and fulfilment. More satisfying and secure because
it is sustainable, and more sustainable because its opportunities and
benefits are more universally shared.
Sustainable development - development that does not destroy or
undermine the ecological, economic or social basis on which continued
development depends/- is the only viable pathway to a more secure and
hopeful future for rich and poor alike. This Conference must
establish the foundations for effecting the transition to sustainable
development. This can only be done through fundamental changes in our
economic life and in international economic relations, particularly as
between industrialized and developed countries. Environment must be
integrated into every aspect of our economic policy and
decision-making, as well as the culture and value systems which
motivate economic behaviour.
In our negotiations with each other, nature must have a place at
the table, for nature will have the last word and our decisions must
respect the boundary conditions it imposes on us as well as the rich
array of resources and opportunities it makes available to us. We
have to face up to the dire implications of the warnings scientists
are sounding. They point to the real prospect that this planet may
soon become uninhabitable for people. If we respond only with
rhetoric and gestures, this prospect could become reality.
Preparations for the Conference have focused on the concrete
actions required to effect the transition to sustainability. Under
the masterful leadership of its Chairman, Ambassador/Tommy/Koh, the
Preparatory Committee for this Conference, in more than two years of
intensive preparations and negotiations, has fashioned the proposals
that are now before you. In doing so, it has had the benefit of an
extraordinary range of contributions, from the entire United Nations
system, from preparatory conferences in every region, many sectoral
conferences, national reports and the participation in various ways of
an unprecedented number of institutions, experts and organizations,
both governmental and non-governmental. I want especially to note
that no international conference of Governments has enjoyed a broader
range of participation and greater contributions from non-governmental
organizations than this one, and I salute them for this.
The results of this preparatory work are now before you. The
majority of the proposals come with the recommendation, by consensus,
of the Preparatory Committee. But some critically important issues
remain for you to resolve here. Let me mention some of the most
important issues as I see them.
The 27 principles of the Rio Declaration, building on the Stockholm
Declaration, clearly represent a major step forward in establishing
the basic principles that must govern the conduct of nations and
peoples towards each other and the Earth to ensure a secure and
sustainable future. I recommend that you approve them in their
present form and that they serve as a basis for future negotiation of
an Earth Charter, which could be approved on the occasion of the
fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.
Agenda 21 is the product of an extensive process of preparation at
the professional level and negotiation at the political level. It
established, for the first time, a framework for the systemic,
cooperative action required to effect the transition to sustainable
development. And its 115 programme areas define the concrete actions
required to carry out this transition. In respect of the issues that
are still unresolved, I would urge you to ensure that the agreements
reached at this historic Summit move us beyond the positions agreed by
Governments in previous forums.
The issue of new and additional financial resources to enable
developing countries to implement Agenda 21 is crucial and pervasive.
This, more than any other issue, will clearly test the degree of
political will and commitment of all countries to the fundamental
purposes and goals of this Earth Summit.
The need to begin the process is so urgent, so compelling, that
Governments, particularly those of the high-income countries, will
have come, I trust, prepared to make the initial commitments that will
be necessary to do this. It is clear that the North must begin to
invest much more in progress for the developing world. Developing
countries must leave here with the confidence that they will have the
support and incentives they need to commit themselves to the
substantial reorientations of policies and redeployment of their own
resources called for by Agenda 21.
I hope, too, that you would agree that these new and additional
funds be channelled, at least initially, through a number of existing
institutions and programmes, including an appropriately revised Global
Environment Facility.
This calls for a new sense of real partnership. Traditional
notions of foreign aid and of the donor-recipient syndrome are no
longer an appropriate basis for North-South relations. The world
community must move towards a more objective and consistent system of
effecting resource transfers similar to that used to redress
imbalances and ensure equity within national societies.
Financing the transition to sustainable development should not be
seen merely in terms of extra costs, but rather as an indispensable
investment in global environmental security.
Such investments also make good economic sense. It is no accident
that those countries and corporations which use energy and materials
most efficiently are also those which are most successful
economically. The reverse is also true - for poor economic
performance is almost invariably accompanied by poor environmental
performance. The importance of eco-efficiency was the principal theme
of the landmark report Changing Course, prepared by the Business
Council for Sustainable Development as its contribution to the
Conference.
Nowhere is efficiency more important than in the use of energy.
The transition to a more efficient energy economy that weans us off
our overdependence on fossil fuels is imperative to the achievement of
sustainable development.
The removal of trade barriers and discriminatory subsidies would
enable developing countries to earn several times more than the
amounts they now receive by way of official development asisstance.
Large-scale reduction of their current debt burdens could provide most
of the new and additional resources they require to make the
transition to sustainable development.
We also need new ways of financing environment and development
objectives. For example, emission permits that are tradeable
internationally offer a means of making the most cost-efffective use
of funds devoted to pollution control, while at the same time
providing a non-budgetary means of effecting resource transfers.
Taxes on polluting products or activities, like the CO2 taxes now being
levied or proposed by a number of countries, could also be devoted to
the financing of international environment and development measures.
While none of these promising measures may be ripe for definitive
action at this Conference, I would urge the Conference to put them on
the priority agenda for the early post-Rio period.
The devastating drought in southern Africa and the continuing
plight of the victims of conflict and poverty in so many African
countries are a grim reminder of the need for the world community to
give special priority to the needs of Africa and to the
least-developed countries everywhere. The tragedy is that poverty and
hunger persist in a world never better able to eliminate them. This
is surely a denial of the moral and ethical basis of our civilization
as well as a threat to its survival. Agenda 21 measures for the
eradication of poverty and the economic enfranchisement of the poor
provide the basis for a new worldwide war on poverty. Indeed, I urge
you to adopt the eradication of poverty as a central objective for the
world community as we move into the twenty-first century.
Another important region which deserves special attention at this
time is that composed of the nations of the former Soviet Union and
Eastern and Central Europe. These countries, which have suffered some
of the most severe environmental devastation to be experienced anywhere, are
now faced with the daunting task of revitalizing and building their economies.
It is important to them, and to the entire world community, that they
have the international support they will need to do this on an
environmentally sound and sustainable basis.
I want to pay tribute to those who have negotiated the Conventions
on Climate Change and Biodiversity, which will be opened for your
signature here. It has not been an easy process and there are
important reservations about both instruments. They represent the
first steps in the processes of addressing two of the most serious
threats to the habitability of our planet. Signing them will not, in
itself, be sufficient. Their real importance will depend on the
extent to which they give rise to concrete actions and are followed
quickly by protocols containing the special measures required to make
them fully effective and the finances needed to implement them.
For both these issues deal with the future of life on Earth. Over
the next 20 years, more than one quarter of the Earth's remaining
species may become extinct. And in the case of global warming, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that if carbon
dioxide emissions are not cut by 60/per/cent immediately, the changes
in the next 60 years may be so rapid that nature will be unable to
adapt and man incapable of controlling them.
I also recommend that you mandate the negotiation of a convention
on desertification and deterioration of arid lands, which are
threatening the lives and the livelihoods of so many people in the
developing world, notably Africa. It is important, too, for this
Conference, in negotiating the forestry principles placed before it by
the Preparatory Committee, to provide for continuing progress towards
an effective regime for conservation and sustainable development of
the world's forests.
War and preparation for war are a major source of environmental
damage and must be subject to greater accountability and control.
This should include much stronger legal instruments, which clear
provisions for enforcement, which provide effective deterrence against
future environmental aggressors.
The road to Rio has been enlightened and enlivened by a remarkable
and diverse range of activities and dialogue - most have been highly
supportive, some critical, some sceptical, but all testifying to the
historic importance of this occasion and the hopes and expectations of
people everywhere for what you will do here in the next two weeks.
Many of the people and organizations participating in this global
process will be with us here. Many more are gathering at the
accompanying "people's summit" at the Global Forum. I look forward to
a positive and creative interaction between the Conference and these
other "people's" forums.
Several other important events have occurred here just prior to the
Conference. The World Conference of Indigenous Peoples met to share
their experience and concerns. They are repositories of much of the
traditional knowledge and wisdom from which modernization has
separated most of us. They are custodians, too, of some of the
world's most important and vulnerable ecosystems - tropical forests,
deserts and arctic regions. We must hear and heed their voices, learn
from their experience and respect their right to live in their own
lands in accordance with their traditions, values and cultures.
Full and informed participation of people through democratic
processes at every level, accompanied by openness and transparency,
are essential to the achievement of the objectives of this Conference.
Provision for such participation must be an essential feature of the
response by Governments and institutions, national and international,
to the results of the Conference.
No constituencies are more important in all countries than women,
youth and children. To make their essential and distinctive
contributions, the remaining barriers to the full and equal
participation of women in all aspects of our economic, social and
political life must be removed. Similarly, the views, concerns and
the interests of our youth and children must be respected and they
must be provided with expanding opportunities to participate in the
decisions which will shape the future that is so largely theirs.
By the early part of the twenty-first century, more than half the
world's people will live in urban areas. Cities of the developing
world are being overwhelmed by explosive growth at rates beyond
anything ever experienced before. By the year 2025, the urban
population of developing countries is expected to reach some
4/billion. In our host country, the proportion of people living in
urban areas is already more than 70/per/cent. The meetings of leading
representatives of local governments, which took place in Curitiba and
Rio in the past week, have highlighted these issues and established
the basis for the adoption of an Agenda 21 by many of the world's
leading cities.
We are reminded by the Declaration of the Sacred Earth Gathering,
which met here last weekend, that the changes in behaviour and
direction called for here must be rooted in our deepest spiritual,
moral and ethical values. We must reinstate in our lives the ethic of
love and respect for the Earth which traditional peoples have retained
as central to their value systems. This must be accompanied by a
revitalization of the values central to all of our principal religious
and philosophical traditions. Caring, sharing, cooperation with and
love of each other must no longer be seen as pious ideals, divorced
from reality, but rather as the indispensable basis for the new
realities on which our survival and well-being must be premised.
Science and technology have produced our knowledge-based
civilization. Its misuse and unintended effects have given rise to
the risks and imbalances which now threaten us. At the same time, it
offers the insights we need to guide our decisions and the tools we
need to take the actions that will shape our common future. The
guidance which science provides will seldom be so precise as to remove
all uncertainty. In matters affecting our survival, we
cannot afford to wait for the certainty which only a post-mortem could
provide. We must act on the precautionary principle guided by the
best evidence available.
To become full partners in the process of saving our planet,
developing countries need first and foremost substantial new support
for strengthening their own scientific, technological, professional,
educational and related institutional capacities. This is one of the
important and urgent features of Agenda/21.
Perhaps the most important common ground we must arrive at in Rio
is the understanding that we are all in this together. No place on
the planet can remain an island of affluence in a sea of misery. We
are either going to save the whole world or no-one will be saved. We
must from here on in all go down the same path. One country cannot
stabilize its climate in isolation. No country can unilaterally
preserve its biodiversity. One part of the world cannot live an orgy
of unrestrained consumption while the rest destroys its environment
just to survive. Neither is immune from the effects of the other.
There is an ominous tendency today to erect new iron curtains to
insulate the more affluent and privileged from the poor, the
underprivileged and the dispossessed. Iron curtains and national
boundaries provide no solutions to the problems of an interdependent
world community in which what happens in one part affects all.
Like it or not, from here on in, we're in this together: rich,
poor, North, South. It is an exhilarating challenge to erase the
barriers that have separated us in the past, to join in the global
partnership that will enable us to survive in a more secure and
hospitable world. The industrialized world cannot escape its primary
responsibility to lead the way in establishing this partnership and
making it work. Up to now, the damage inflicted on our planet has
been done largely inadvertently. We now know what we are doing. We
have lost our innocence. It would be more than irresponsible to
continue down this path.
This Conference will, in the final analysis, meet the needs for
which it was called and the hopes and aspirations it has ignited
throughout the world only if the decisions taken here give rise to
real and fundamental changes in the underlying conditions that have
produced the civilizational crisis we now confront. If the agreements
reached here do not serve the common interests of the entire human
family, if they are devoid of the means and commitments required to
implement them, if the world lapses back to "business as usual", we
will have missed a historic opportunity, one which may not recur in
our times, if ever. We would thus bequeath to those who follow us a
legacy of lost hopes and deepening despair. This we must not do.
The Earth Summit is not an end in itself, but a new beginning. The
measures you agree on here will be but first steps on a new pathway to
our common future. Thus, the results of this Conference will
ultimately depend on the credibility and effectiveness of its
follow-up. It is, therefore, of the highest importance that all Governments
commit themselves to translate the decisions they take collectively here to
national policies and practices required to give effect to them, particularly
implementation of Agenda/21. The preparatory process has provided the basis
for this and the momentum which has brought us to Rio must be maintained. And
institutional changes to be made within the United Nations must
provide an effective and credible basis for its continued leadership
of this process.
Our essential unity as peoples of the Earth must transcend the
differences and difficulties which still divide us. You are called
upon to rise to your historic responsibility as custodians of the
planet in taking the decisions here that will unite rich and poor,
North, South, East and West, in a new global partnership to ensure our
common future. As Sir/Shridath/Ramphal says in his book Our Country,
The Planet, commissioned for the Conference, "in our drive for
material betterment, we have become so indifferent to our roots in
nature that we are in danger of tearing them out". The road beyond
Rio will be a long and difficult one; but it will also be a journey of
renewed hope, of excitement, challenge and opportunity, leading as we
move into the twenty-first century to the dawning of a new world in
which the hopes and aspirations of all the world's children for a more
secure and hospitable future will be fulfilled. This unprecedented
responsibility is in your hands.
Statement by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
On this very special occasion we really feel that the future is in
our hands. Therefore it is a privilege to address the Conference and
to Convey a message from Sweden, host of the 1972 Conference on the
Human Environment.
It is a message of concern. Progress has been uneven since the
first Conference. There has been great environmental improvement on
the local, national and regional levels, while the global threats are
more serious than ever.
The developing countries continue to face enormous problems. Even
if many of them have been able to improve their situation in a
significant way, more than one/billion people on this planet live
under conditions of unacceptable poverty.
My message today is also a message of hope. For the first time in
history, all the nations of the world meet to discuss the twin
problems of environment and development.
Careful and efficient preparatory work during the last two years
has hopefully created the basis for a successful outcome of the
Conference.
Many of us have felt that history has been accelerating over the
years. The world of today is very different from the world of 1972.
The threat of an ultimate nuclear war is less evident.
This means that generations that have been thinking in a shorter
perspective in the shadow of a possible nuclear disaster now have to
face a longer perspective. Our eyes have to be raised beyond the
immediate time horizon. The year 2000 is tomorrow, the year 2100 is
not far away. It is a great challenge to consider the world beyond
our own life-spans. The long view is not an intellectual luxury, but
a necessity and an opportunity. Feeling the repsonsibility for coming
generations adds a new dimension to our existence.
All this may not stand in the way of a deeper understanding of the
present. We have to act today so that future ecological disasters are
avoided. But in many parts of the world, the disaster is already
there. The present drought catastrophe in Africa is one example. And
there are many more.
The link between the environment and development is vital. Here,
in Rio/de Janeiro, we have to find new ways of reflection and action
to make sustainable development a living reality and a real
possibility.
No doubt many people feel uncertain about the present state of the
world situation. Old structures are falling before new ones are
ready. We are seriously concerned about the world economy, the
problems of development in the South and the continuing stagnation and
unemployment in the North.
But we have no choice. We do not have the option of first
resolving today's problems and then tomorrow's. We have to manage the
intellectual, political and practical efforts by integrating them into
credible action.
Of course, this is easy to say but more difficult to do.
Governments of the world are struggling with so many problems that
require immediate attention. The same is true of individuals. If you
have to fight for survival, how could you give priority to coming
generations? If your country faces a sudden economic crisis, how
could you make your Government consider the long-term options instead?
There are no automatic answers: each situation must be judged
separately. But still, the need for an integrated analysis is urgent.
The Rio Conference offers us all a necessary opportunity for
reflection. In the Conference agenda and in the preparatory work the
relationships between the different concepts have been underlined:
Poverty as a consequence and as a cause of environmental
degradation;
The connection between deforestation and desertification;
The link between land-based pollution of coastal waters and a
deteriorating fishing economy.
The key word is integration - of reflection and action. In the
North it means the intellectual courage of admitting the interests of
the developing countries and the needs for transfer of adequate, new
and additional financial resources. Every individual also must
consider other consumption patterns and lifestyles, in a long-term
perspective.
In this Conference Hall we have come together from all parts of the
world. We will have a unique opportunity to exchange views on these
fundamental problems, on the basis of well-prepared secretariat
documents. This is our chance to strengthen the integrated approach
and enable our Governments to make the necessary decisions, in this
rapidly changing world.
But Governments alone cannot achieve very much if the citizens do
not agree or follow. Therefore, the long-term approach requires a
tremendous effort of awareness and education. The role of
non-governmental organizations is vital. Through their action, no one
will have to doubt the issues at stake. Therefore it is important
that there are so many representatives of non-governmental
organizations here in Rio. Their active participation in the UNCED
process is the key to long-term success.
The same goes for the media. This Conference is followed with
great interest all over the world. Consequently, the media follows it
very closely. Their responsibility goes beyond the immediate: the
coverage of the less dramatic and more tedious follow-up process will
be quite as important.
Last week I participated in two pre-Conference meetings. One was
here in Rio de Janeiro, organized by the International Chamber of
Commerce. It underlined the importance of the business community for
the continued UNCED process. It also stressed the responsibility of
Governments to provide the private sector with the right signals to
induce environmentally sound action. The report of the Business
Council for Sustainable Development goes in the same direction. The
environmental concern for a longer perspective should not be seen as a
threat to the business community but as a challenge and opportunity.
The other conference was in Curitiba, dealing with the role of
local communities, cities, towns and municipalities. It was
encouraging to see the drive and vigour of environmental action
displayed by so many municipalities around the world. "Think
globally, act locally" is not just a slogan. It is a reality of which
the Curitiba experience revealed the full strength.
Integration is the key word:
Integration of different policies to make development and concern
for the environment possible today;
Integration of the interests of today with those of tomorrow;
Integration of the global and the local.
This Conference should be able to achieve it all. Therefore, I am
convinced that we have a historic opportunity right now to accelerate
international cooperation in a way which will enable all of us to look
towards the future with more confidence.
It is with great hope that I hand over the symbolic torch from
Stockholm/1972 to Rio de Janeiro 1992. We are here to prepare for the
next century, we are doing it together, and we are working in this
beautiful city under your most able chairmanship. The prerequisites
for success are there. Let us use this opportunity and not miss the
boat.
Statement by Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister
of Norway and Chairman of the World Commission on
Environment and Development
There are less than 400 weeks left of the twentieth century. Time
is short for us to rectify the present unsustainable patterns of human
development. We must eradicate poverty. We must achieve greater
equality within and between nations. We must reconcile human
activities and human numbers with the laws of nature.
In 1987, in Our Common Future, we described the dangers arising
from attempts by both industrialized and developing countries to base
progress on practices which are environmentally and economically
unsustainable. We addressed the interlocking crises of environment
and development. We outlined a process of change towards sustainable
development.
We called upon the United Nations General Assembly to convene an
international conference "to review progress made and promote
follow-up arrangements/... to set benchmarks and maintain human
progress within the guidelines of human needs and natural laws".
Today, five years later, we are opening that conference.
Six weeks ago, the world Commission, reinforced by five
distinguished world leaders, met again in London, and issued our
political statement on the vital issues before this Conference.
Human history has now reached a watershed where fundamental policy
changes become unavoidable. The more than one billion people who
today cannot meet their own basic needs, our own children and
grandchildren, and the Earth itself all cry out for a revolution. It
is bound to come eventually. We know we have an opportunity to head
off the danger, disorder and conflict which might otherwise be
inevitable.
A sharp reduction in the arms race and the expected peace dividend
can be used to finance today's most urgent form of collective security
- environmental security.
We need a new form of "collective engagement", not only to
stabilize the new East-West relations, but to establish a new
North-South relationship based on mutual enlightened self-interest.
We will all be held accountable for what we fail to agree in Rio.
For the first time in human history/- all over the world - people will
be able to closely monitor their leaders at work at a major
conference, through widespread television and other media coverage.
We cannot claim that we lack knowledge. A global partnership must
start with a commitment by the industrial countries to reduce sharply
the burden they impose on the carrying capacity of the Earth's
ecosystems by their unsustainable consumption and production patterns.
We should not be surprised that developing nations are approaching
the Rio Summit with open economic demands. For them, it is
essentially a conference about development and justice.
Poverty degrades not only those who suffer it, but also those who
tolerate it. The time has come for a real attack on mass poverty.
Poverty, environment and population can no longer be dealt with/- or
even thought of/- as separate issues; they are interlinked in practice
and cannot be delinked in the formulation of policies.
Unless poverty is alleviated, there is no change that we will be
able to stabilize the world population. It has grown by 500/million
since the Commission last met five years ago. We must deal with
population growth through an integrated approach, including education
and the enhancement of the status of women, improved public health and
family planning.
During the preparations for the Conference, many developing
countries declared themselves ready to make political commitments to
curb population growth, but some delegations have resisted calls for
the universal availability of modern family planning. We all have an
obligation to overcome this resistance and rise to the real challenges
of our time.
Sustainable development can be advanced only by an international
trading system which enlarges freedom of market access, especially for
developing countries, and which incorporates environmental values.
The Commission regrets that the current GATT Round has neglected
environment and sustainable development and calls for these issues to
be addressed in future negotiations.
A decade after the debt crisis broke in Latin America, many
developing countries are unable to escape the onerous burden of
foreign debt. Developing country debt now exceeds US$ 1.3 thousand
billion, and debt service exceeds net development assistance by a
factor of four. It is imperative that further debt relief be given,
in particular to the low-income countries.
Access to environmentally sound technologies is of critical
importance in respect of every item of Agenda/21. There is an urgent
need to devote substantially more resources to the development of new
and viable environmentally friendly technologies. Moreover, there is
a further need to create an improved climate for private investment
and to develop innovative new partnerships between Government and
business.
The Conference secretariat's estimation of the financial resources
required for implementation of Agenda/21 in developing countries
amounts to US$/625/billion. Some 80/per/cent, or $500/billion, will
have to be provided by developing countries themselves. The remaining
20/per/cent, or an estimated $125/billion required annually, must come
from concessional financing by the industrial countries.
While this may appear a very large sum, it is in fact equivalent to
the amounts which would be raised if the industrial countries met
their long-established ODA target of 0.7/per/cent of GNP.
The Commission built on the conclusions of the Tokyo Declaration on
Financing Global Environment and Development/- a timely initiative
taken by former Prime Minister Takeshita. The 0.7/per/cent is the
minimum necessary, given the scale of the efforts needed. All donor
nations should achieve this target by the year 2000.
Industrialized countries must make a significant start here in Rio
towards full implementation of Agenda 21, steadily increasing
additional amounts yearly. We believe that this start should not be
less than $10/billion in 1993.
Beyond concessional financing, the special needs of middle-income
developing countries must be met. It is no less important that the
international community facilitates financial flows to these countries
on appropriate terms and through a variety of mechanisms.
At the Earth Summit, our human society should rise to the challenge
that confronts it. We believe that the momentum is now irreversible.
We must also look beyond Rio to ways that will help to sustain and
strengthen it.
Within the United Nations system, the General Assembly should act
as the supreme policy-making forum for sustainable development. We
support the proposal for a high-level Commission on Sustainable
Development.
We need a growing coalition of reason, which so clearly depends on
uniting the forces of democracy.
The World Commission calls upon the world's leaders present at the
Earth Summit to commit the world's people to securing human survival.
Narrowly focused national priorities will only hamper progress and
stand in the way.
We are compelled to manage the most important global transition
since the agricultural and industrial revolutions/- the transition to
sustainable development.
We may temporarily immunize ourselves emotionally to the images of
starvation, drought, floods, and people suffocating under the load of
wastes we are piling on a nature so bountiful, but there is a time
bomb ticking. And when the world population doubles, and the world
economy increases fivefold or tenfold, while leaving new hundreds of
millions constantly hungry and in acute poverty, it will have been too
late.
We need nothing less than to build a global democracy based on
common perceptions of common challenges. We need to educate people,
not to arm them, we need moderation and modernization. We need
radical decisions at this crisis meeting on humanity's future.
We cannot betray future generations. They will judge us harshly if
we fail at this crucial moment. We have a moral duty. We have the
means. We have many of the ways. We/- each of us/- are responsible.
We will be held accountable.
Statement by Mario Soares, President of Portugal
I extend greetings to all the participants in this historic Rio
Conference and pay tribute to the sense of responsibility shown by the
United Nations General Assembly in convening the Conference at such an
opportune moment. I thank the President of the Republic of Brazil,
whose country is hosting this Conference and has close ties to
Portugal, for extending a special invitation to me to attend this
opening meeting. We are deeply grateful to President/Collor for this
very courteous gesture towards Portugal.
As Mr. Maurice Strong, the Secretary-General, to whom this
Conference owes so much, has said, it is of pressing and indeed
decisive importance for mankind, in the difficult closing years of
this millennium, that a viable, fair balance be found at the global
level between environment and development.
All people of awareness now recognize that we cannot continue to
close our eyes to the steady degradation of our besieged and
overburdened planet. This degradation affects both essential
ecological balances and the situation of the human species which, over
vast areas, still suffers from hunger, malnutrition, inadequate
housing, diseases for which science has no cure, ignorance and
underdevelopment. All people of awareness have also realized that
there is a relationship of absolute interdependence between
environmental protection and efforts to combat poverty and
underdevelopment. The Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, thus
builds on the Brandt Report, which, 15 years ago, was already
maintaining that the North-South dialogue aimed at combating
underdevelopment is an absolute imperative for the survival of the
more developed nations.
It is not enough, however, to be aware of the gravity of the
situation facing the Earth, our common home. That is only a
beginning, albeit a tremendously important one. The next step is to
know how to act, how to effect the necessary changes, in what way and
by what means. This is the great challenge facing the Rio Conference.
The expectations that have been aroused throughout the world are
tremendous. That is just as well. The Forum of non-governmental
organizations and individual concerned citizens who have come to Rio
de Janeiro from every corner of the globe is eloquent proof of this
expectation and these interests. On the one hand it represents a
collective moral position, on the other an act of political will that
States and Governments cannot ignore.
At a time when we are talking of the end of ideologies as a result
of the collapse of communism and the end of a world divided into rival
blocs, it is comforting to feel, in connection with this Rio
Conference, the moral idealism of the young people who believe in this
great and noble cause of protecting our planet against the manifold
risks which threaten it. In a sense, we are seeing the rebirth of
utopia, of the belief in the ability of the individual, of all
individuals to take destiny into their own hands by protecting the
Earth's resources, defending biological diversity, avoiding the
pollution of such essential resources as water, air, soils or oceans
and, above all, believing that it is possible to reduce the
inequalities among individuals and among nations and to build a world
of peace, justice and well-being.
I know how difficult it is to move ahead from the rhetoric of good
intentions to concrete, binding resolutions. I know the care that
went into the preparations for this Conference, the important
declarations that preceded it and the tremendous amount of data
collection that was done, just as I am aware of the difficulties that
remain, the scarcity of available resources in relation to needs, the
reservations of some countries and the complexity of reconciling
conflicting interests. Nevertheless, when I take stock of the
progress that has been achieved and the small steps that have been
taken as a result of pragmatic, persistent efforts, my feeling is one
of confidence. To the sceptics, I would say that the Rio Conference
must not be viewed as the final solution to the Earth's environmental
problems, but rather as a starting point and also as a crucial
qualitative leap forward in the process of creating universal
awareness of environmental issues with all their economic, social and
cultural implications.
I come here as the representative of a small European country which
has a long history and which is proud of the contributions it has made
to creating the civilization of the "universal" of which
Teilhard/de/Chardin spoke. A full member of the European Community,
of which it is currently occupying the Presidency, Portugal stands
between two worlds: while it belongs to one of the most developed
regions of the world it is, without question, one of the poorest of
the rich countries. This makes it particularly well placed to
understand how environmental needs, the importance of technology
transfers, the foreign debt burden and the requirements of sustainable
development are interrelated and interdependent and how vitally urgent it is
for everyone, rich and poor, that the peoples of the Earth hold a dialogue
and reach agreements, in peace and solidarity, in order to save the
Earth/- or rather to ensure the survival of mankind on Earth. This is
our common responsibility.
I thank you again and I extend Portugal's best wishes for the
success of this Conference, which I am sure will play a decisive role
in forging a new approach to the way mankind lives on Earth.
Annex III
CLOSING STATEMENTS
Statement by Fernando Collor, President of Brazil and President
of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
I wish to start by expressing my warmest gratitude to all those who
have come from all corners of the world to contribute to the success
of our Rio '92 Conference: Governments, the United Nations
Secretariat, the Conference secretariat, specialized agencies,
organizations, movements and ultimately all people dedicated to the
cause of environment and development.
We know how much this great cause owes to the determination and
even to the sacrifices made by non-governmental organizations. The
Global Forum was a great and magnificent event. Here, in Rio, we have
all joined hands.
I would also wish to mention that I am proud of the work carried
out by Brazil in the preparation of this, which was the largest
international meeting of all history - a clear testimony of our
ability, and of our calling as a modern, open and enterprising
country. I have noted with pleasure the numerous expressions of
appreciation for the efforts we made.
My special recognition goes to the people of Rio, cariocas and
fluminenses, to the Government of State of Rio de Janeiro, the Office
of the Mayor, the National Working Group (GTN), organizations,
companies and to each and every Brazilian involved in this endeavour.
I also wish to extend my thanks to Minister Francisco Rezek for his
dedication in the beginning of preparations for the Conference.
We all owe a word of gratitude to the Secretary-General,
Mr./Boutros/Boutros-Ghali, to Mr. Maurice Strong, and to those who
worked with them.
Lastly, I would like to express my recognition to
Ambassador/Tommy/Koh, from Singapore, for his tireless work as
Chairman of the Preparatory Committee and of the Main Committee of the
Conference.
For at least 12 days the attention of mankind was focused on the
essential questions of life, development and justice on Earth.
There is a genuine and broad interest for what we have
accomplished; our peoples will expect to see the implementation of the
task we have started here.
The Rio Conference does not end in Rio.
The spirit that guided its debates and deliberations - what
Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali called the "spirit of Rio" - must
linger on and guide us into the future, much beyond 1992.
The Commission on Sustainable Development must be the faithful
expression of that spirit.
Our aim is to forge unity.
To be sure, the Conference did not offset, decisively and
definitively, the trends towards polarization between the rich and the
poor. Most of all, however, it undoubtedly served the purpose of
increasing the universal awareness of our common destiny.
The world today is aware, much more than it was 12 days ago, that
the questions of environment and development cannot be treated
separately.
The world is aware that it is necessary to put an end both to
contamination that is admittedly the result of short-term economic
interest and to contamination that is the involuntary by-product of
poverty, ignorance and the daily struggle for survival.
The world is aware that there is a pressing need for international
legal norms, such as those which were opened for signature here: the
Conventions on Climate Change and on Biological Diversity. There is a
crucial need for commitments and programmes of action, such as those
embodied in the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and the declaration on
forests.
The world is aware, much more than it was 12 days ago, that we must
be able to rely upon a system of financial mechanisms to channel new
and additional resources to the projects and proposals oriented
towards sustainable progress, and to respond to the needs of
developing countries. The decisions adopted by the Conference with
respect to such mechanisms constitute an important step in that
direction.
The world is aware that Rio '92 represents the starting point on
the road on which nations, rich and poor, as well as men and women,
will join together in the struggle for preservation of the planet, for
development, for justice and, ultimately, for universal peace.
And the world is aware, also, that the United Nations has an
increasingly central role to play in the history of mankind. The Rio
Conference itself shows that issues of universal concern, such as
environment and development, issues that are related to mankind as a
whole, can only be dealt with in forums where all peoples are
assembled on an equal footing.
On behalf of all Brazilians, I call upon you all to keep in your
minds and hearts the memory of the days spent here.
In the Rio Conference, which concluded with the Earth Summit, our
task was sowing the seeds. A good harvest will now depend on our
collective effort and dedication.
As we leave this meeting, may we take with us, granted for sure,
that in these 12 days we have been the protagonists in a historic
moment of partnership and change.
It will be up to each one of us to accept the guidance of a new
ethic of solidarity.
The world, as I pointed out before, is no longer the same as it was
on 3/June. It has become a little better, a little safer and a little
more unified.
It was worthwhile. We have taken the right direction and we will
reach our goals, under the blessing and with the help of God.
Statement by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General
of the United Nations
It is a great honour to address you on this occasion. This
Conference was called to face an immense challenge. Major divisions
between the participants have been narrowed. A great stride has been
taken towards our goal, which is simply stated: saving our planet.
It is my earnest hope that the spirit of Rio, which is on
everyone's lips at this Summit, can provide the momentum for the even
larger tasks ahead; that the decisions to be taken in the future will
reflect our common thinking in Rio.
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, as approved by
the Conference, marks a significant advance. It places people at the
centre of our concerns. It deals with both environmental and
development aspects. It reflects a commitment to certain basic
principles. I know that it represents a delicate compromise of
various perceptions and priorities. The strength of this compromise
is precisely that it is accepted by every nation in the world and not
just one or another group of nations.
The greater part of the negotiating time of the '92 process has
been taken up by the negotiations on the action programmes included in
Agenda/21. As I indicated in my opening address, I see this as the
centre-piece of international cooperation and of coordination of
activities within the United Nations system for many years to come.
We have now an action programme that takes the first steps towards
spelling out the concept of sustainable development and planetary
development in terms of specific actions.
In addition to its substantive importance, Agenda 21 is also
important as a process. Here we have a programme defined, not just by
a few experts or by one or two groups of countries, but on a universal
basis by all countries of the world. I am particularly gratified to
see the commitments to poverty alleviation which are included in Agenda 21. I
would also draw particular attention to the agreement on the questions
relating to a convention on desertification, a region of great concern to some
of the poorest countries in the world.
The signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity are clearly an
important part of the UNCED process. Both Conventions represent a
first for the Earth. In the case of biodiversity, the Convention
clearly reaffirms the fact that the community of nations is committed
to conserving the work of creation and to prevent it from
deterioration. It represents a turning-point in the protection of the
life forms that nourish the Earth.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change launches
a process of cooperation which is aimed at keeping greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere within safe limits. The initial level of commitment is
not as high as many would have wished. But a low level of commitment
should maximize participation - which is one condition for
effectiveness. The process of policy review should improve
commitments over time. The United Nations stands ready to discharge
its responsibilities in the follow-up of work.
I am deeply gratified that as of today, 153 countries (plus EEC)
have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
and 153 countries (plus EEC) have signed the Convention on Biological
Diversity.
I also note with satisfaction that your negotiations have brought a
statement of principles on forests. I expect this statement to become
a landmark in our continuing search for ways to better manage, develop
and conserve these important resources. That you have succeeded in
reaching agreement on such a politically sensitive matter is a tribute
to the spirit of compromise and goodwill that has inspired you all
along.
In the same spirit, you have also managed to resolve the question
of the institutional mechanism at the United Nations to be entrusted
with the follow-up of the Conference. I will, in accordance with your
request, report to you fully at the forthcoming sessions of the
General Assembly on the institutional modalities, including the work
of the expected high-level Commission on Sustainable Development.
Such, then, is the picture that our great planet-wide building
project presents today. However, this is not much in the light of the
issues at stake as I described them when I opened this Conference.
The current level of commitment is not comparable with the scope and
severity of the problems. However that may be, Rio is but one moment
on a long road, a moment which is useful because of the awareness that
has been created, the decisions that have been taken, the mobilization
to which it has given rise.
Already a thousand voices throughout the world have echoed the
first signposts we have erected here. We have a long road before us.
Many people have insisted on the length of the way that remains to be
travelled.
It has been said that Rio was a beginning. This is true only in
part: whether in relation to development or in relation to the
environment, there has been no shortage in recent decades of
conferences, preparatory work and programmes. What is new, on the
other hand, is the now extremely close links that we have been able to
cement between the two key words: planet-wide development and
protection of the environment. This is the first achievement of Rio.
In particular, since the two paths of development and environment
are the outcome of long-standing efforts on the part of the world
Organization, I should like its fiftieth anniversary, in 1995, to be
marked by substantial results. For example, a new Earth Charter could
be adopted by all, as has been suggested by more than one Head of
State or Government.
The second achievement of our Conference, I believe, is that our
road is now illuminated by a new light, which I along with many others
have called the spirit of Rio. It comprises, I think, three
dimensions: an intellectual dimension, that of coherence; an economic
dimension, that of planet-wide development; and, lastly, a political
dimension, namely the sense of duration, that is to say of
responsibility.
The intellectual dimension, that of coherence, consists in
recognizing that the planet Earth is a vast set of interdependences.
Rising water levels threaten the Ganges delta just as much as they do
Venice or the islands of the Pacific!
The second dimension of the spirit of Rio, the economic dimension,
probably constitutes its heart. Thinking of the interdependencies
implies seeing development as a whole; this is what I have called
planet-wide development. Overdevelopment and underdevelopment give
equal cause for concern: both of them must gradually be replaced by
planet-wide development. I should like all the logical consequences
of this change to be recognized: first, that the effort must be a
global one. It must be made both by the countries of the North and by
the countries of the South, which cannot avoid making any
contribution. And one of these contributions of the recipient
countries is to see to it that the additional resources are utilized
efficiently, in accordance with a fair formula which has been adopted
here. Nor is that all: in all logic, the global partnership means
that all the partners must play their role.
It is with a third, more political, dimension that I should like to
conclude this rapid recapitulation. The spirit of Rio, for all of you
leaders gathered here, is the clear awareness of a political duty, the
duty to the long term. Politics is more than a struggle to win or
retain power; its essential aspect is the exercise of power, that is
to say the preparation of the world for generations to come. The
spirit of Rio brings us back to this essential aspect of politics, the
preparation of the future: what we do in this respect will not
necessarily bear fruit in the next few years, but on a longer,
sometimes much longer, time-scale.
Thus, our Conference is drawing to a close. The course has been
charted. This is not a time to rest, for almost everything remains to
be done. Today, man is still a formidable destroyer. By weighing too
heavily on the Earth, and by destroying life around him, he has
reached the point of calling in question his own survival. Today, we
are seeking to limit the forms of pollution for which we are still
responsible to their current rate. One day, we shall have to do much
more, and clean up the planet - and we shall have to do so under much
more difficult conditions, for in 25 years the world's population will
have increased by two/billion. Today, the United Nations is doing
what it can. It is setting the ground rules, it is launching a
movement which it hopes will be something more than a fashionable
trend, a "green trend" which would be nothing more than hypocrisy.
But the function of the United Nations is not to mask general inaction
with words, speeches, reports or programmes. Your job is to act, to
assume your responsibilities.
I should like to conclude by saying that the spirit of Rio must
create a new form of good citizenship. After loving his neighbour as
the Bible required him to, post-Rio man must also love the world,
including the flowers, birds and trees - every part of that natural
environment that we are constantly destroying.
Over and above the moral contract with God, over and above the
social contract concluded with men, we must now conclude an ethical
and political contract with nature, with this Earth to which we owe
our very existence and which gives us life.
To the ancients, the Nile was a god to be venerated, as was the
Rhine, an infinite source of European myths, or the Amazonian forest,
the mother of forests. Throughout the world, nature was the abode of
the divinities that gave the forest, the desert or the mountains a
personality which commanded worship and respect. The Earth had a
soul. To find that soul again, to give it new life, that is the
essence of Rio.
Statement by Maurice F. Strong, Secretary-General
of the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development
This indeed is a historic moment for humanity. And I think for all
of you, as for me, it is also a very great human experience. This
whole process has been more than a political and a technocratic
process/- it has indeed been a profoundly important human experience
from which none of us can emerge unchanged.
First of all, I would like to express my profound gratitude for the
generous words, confidence and appreciation that have been extended to
us here. I say us because I get all too much exposure and all too
much credit/- and when there is blame I should shoulder blame. But
the credit must go to my colleague, Nitin/Desai, and our tremendous
team. They are the ones who have really done this job. I have never
had the privilege of working with a better
team and I am just delighted that Nitin/Desai is sitting up here
beside me because he deserves fully all the appreciation that you have
shown to me. And behind him is a very fine team that I am going to
miss in the period ahead.
Mr./President, I would like to first to extend my deep gratitude to
you as my President/- President of this Conference/- and as President
of Brazil. It has been one of my life's great privileges to serve
under you, and in the presence of the man under whom I serve
regularly, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to thank both
of you for your leadership and your immensely important support,
without which the result we celebrate here today would simply not have
been possible.
Also, Mr./President, to you, as President of our host country,
Brazil, I want to extend, along with all those who have registered
their appreciation, my very special gratitude and that of all of our
staff/- our United Nations team that has worked under your
leadership/- for the absolutely superb job that you and your
Government have done in preparing this Conference and in hosting it.
Governor/Brizola of the State of Rio/de/Janeiro has been such a
find host and supporter. And, I should say, the State of Sao/Paolo
has also supported very strongly the efforts of Rio, as have
Mayor/Alencar, the Mayor of Earth City, our host city during this
period, and his people. I know that you have not had the chance of
the kind of interaction that many of us would have liked but I am sure
that you have enjoyed/- as have our staff who have been here a little
longer/- the hospitality and vitality of the wonderful people of Rio.
The cities of Sao/Paolo and Curitiba, we should also remember, have
successfully hosted two very important companion events to this Summit
Conference. Many organizations of Brazil, public and private, have
done so much, hosting events of various kinds/- entertainment events
and informational and educational events.
It has been a real privilege having our distinguished
Rapporteur-General, the Foreign Minister of Algeria, as the guiding
force in preparing the report of this meeting. And I am very proud to
be sitting at the right hand of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations to register my gratitude for his leadership and support.
Now I must not leave this recognition of those who have helped us/-
it is a list far too long to give you - without special mention of
Miles/Stoby, the Secretary of the Conference, and his tremendously
helpful and important staff. And we owe an immense debt of gratitude
to our partners throughout the United Nations system, the agencies and
organizations and programmes of the United Nations, who have worked as
real partners in this entire process and will continue to do so in its
follow-up and implementation. And to the Conference Services staff,
the interpreters, the translators, those who have been processing the
documents, the Department of Public of Information, Protocol,
Security.
And, of course, overall we have worked under the leadership of the
Preparatory Committee in which all of you participated, which we, as a
secretariat, have been so privileged to serve. It is the body that
has really brought us to Rio. And, fortunately, we have enjoyed here
as the Chairman of the Main Committee, Tommy/Koh, the person who
brought to a successful conclusion the work of the Preparatory
Committee. The ship that has brought us here to Rio could not have
had a better captain/- a tough one sometimes, yes; relentless with
that gavel; but the person without whom this historic voyage would not
have been possible. And with him, some superb people/- I shall not
mention them all/- Ambassador/Kjellœn, Dr./Bukar/Shaib,
Mr./Bedrich/Moldan, and all the coordinators and facilitators who have
enabled us to put this whole package together.
Intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations
have contributed so much to our work, the Global Forum especially.
You have read and heard about the pangs and pains of that enterprise,
but with the support of President/Collor and the State of Rio de
Janeiro, Sao/Paolo, the City of Rio, and a whole lot of others, the
Forum has been a great success. We should congratulate them. I would
like to see a congratulatory word of appreciation come from this
Conference to the Global Forum because it has been the People's Summit
that has complemented and interacted with us. And a particular word
of gratitude to Chil/Linder and Ashok/Khosla of the International
Facilitating Committee, who have presided over this so effectively.
A number of other events have occurred in relation to this/- I
shall not mention them all, but I do want to mention the Indigenous
People's Conference, from which we heard here; the Sacred Earth
Conference; UNEP's World Environment Day; and a whole series of
related events that have contributed to this total Rio experience,
which we should recognize.
I also finally want to recognize the many sources of support that
we have had in our preparatory work in terms of financial and material
support from Governments, from foundations, from other private-sector
sources; they are listed in a special paper that is being circulated
here today, and they all deserve our and your appreciation and
acknowledgement. ECOFUND is a prime example and Ben/Read set up their
private-sector foundation that has enabled so many of our activities
to be funded; the Committee to Promote the Pledge; Ted/Kheel; Robert
Rauschenberg, the artist/- genius/- who created our poster and has
enabled us to realize so much from it; The Earth Summit Times and the
Earth Summit Bulletin.
It is now time to reflect on what we have done here and what we are
called upon to do when we leave. I will not make this moment of
reflection too long, Mr./President, but I do believe I owe it to you
and to this assembly to give you a few of my thoughts as to what we
have done here, what we have not done and what we must now do.
Firstly, Mr./President, of course, you have carried out
successfully the largest high-level intergovernmental conference ever
held on our planet, and clearly the most important. Nothing less than
the future of our planet has the home for our species and others has
been the object of our work. We have had the right people here: the
right Presidents, the right leaders of over 180/countries, more than
100/heads of State and Government; people/- non-governmental
organizations, women, youth, children, indigenous people, a whole
series of representatives of virtually every sector of society; the
media, more media than have ever watched and reported on any world
conference, not just as bystanders and reporters but, in a very real
sense, they have been participants in this process and they have
permitted hundreds of millions of people around the world to engage in
this process with us. We have not been alone here in Rio. We have
had the people of the planet with us, watching us, participating and
wondering what we are going to do here and after we leave here.
Millions of them throughout the world have, as most of you have done,
evidenced their interest through the medium of the Earth Pledge.
The world will not be the same after this Conference. Diplomacy,
as one leading commentator has said, will not be the same after this
Conference. The United Nations, I am sure, will not be the same after
this Conference. And the prospects for our Earth cannot, must not, be
the same. We came here to alter those prospects/- we cannot allow
those prospects to have come through this process without having been
decisively altered and changed to a more promising and sustainable
future. Certainly the environment and development dialogue will never
be the same. People may criticize, they may be cynical, they may say
that what we are asking is unrealistic, but they have to talk today
about the problems of the developing countries, about poverty, about
inequity, about terms of trade, about flows of resources to developing
countries. Today you cannot talk about environment without putting
all those issues into the equation. That itself, I think, is one of
the most important results of the Conference and one of the most
important reasons for hope/- that the people of the world will be
behind the leaders of the world, and indeed may be ahead of the
leaders of the world, in ensuring the implementation of these results.
In specific terms, Governments have agreed on the Declaration of
Rio, Agenda/21, including, of course, measures on financing its
implementation, technology transfer, institutions, forestry
principles, and a negotiating process has been mandated for a
convention on desertification. Each of the conventions, on climate
change and biodiversity, has been signed by more than 150 nations.
But, if we have reason for satisfaction at this, we certainly do
not have reason for complacency. The real measure of our success will
be in what happens when we leave here, in our own countries, in our
own organizations, in our own lives. Will this Summit merely be a
high point in our expressions of good intentions and enthusiasm and
excitement, or will it really be the start of the process of
fundamental change which we absolutely need.
That requires us to examine what we have not done here; very
briefly, what have we not done?
We have a profoundly important Declaration, but it must continue to
evolve towards what many of us hope will be an Earth Charter that
could be finally sanctioned on the fiftieth anniversary of the United
Nations in 1995.
Agenda/21 - there has been, of course, some weakening of that
document in the process, but it still stands as the most
comprehensive, the most far-reaching and, if implemented, the most
effective programme of international action ever sanctioned by the
international community. It is not a final and complete action
programme, and was not intended to be, but one which must continue to
evolve. And, I have to say, we still do not have all the means, by
any measure, to carry it through.
On finance, we have agreement, but not yet sufficient commitment.
We have made a start on finance but we must recognize that we are a
long way from meeting the needs for full implementation of Agenda/21.
On technology transfer, we have agreement. But the degree of full
commitment to the basic principles of that agreement is still evolving
and we cannot yet measure how deep that commitment is.
On institutions, we have made recommendations but only the General
Assembly can act on them. And we know that how the world will view
this Conference will, in the final analysis, be in the quality and
effectiveness of the measures taken for its implementation.
On the convention on climate change, we have taken an historic
first step, but only a first step - not a sufficient step.
Stabilizing the gaseous composition of the atmosphere is clearly the
most urgent problem we will face in the 1990s. Yet the agreement
signed here sets neither targets nor timetables. You must now act
quickly to bring the climate convention and its protocols in line with
what scientists are telling us - that carbon emissions must be cut by
at least 60/per/cent just to put the global warming trend on hold. It
is too late for protracted discussions and delay.
The Convention on Biological Diversity has not been accepted by at
least one of the nations necessary for its full and effective
implementation.
Most important, the underlying conditions that have produced the
civilizational crisis that this Earth Summit is designed to address
have not changed during our stay here in Rio. There are prospects for
change but the patterns of production and consumption that give rise
to so many of the global risks we are dealing with have continued.
Factories continue to belch the same smoke, the same amounts of CO2 are
entering the air every day while we are here. The process of
deterioration continues. Two hundred and sixty thousand children have
been born each day while we were here - mostly poor, born into a world
of hunger and deprivation - but all, rich and poor, facing an
uncertain future. Every minute we have spent here, 28/people have
died of hunger, 3 out of 4 were children under the age of five. If
present birth and death rates continue, we will be struggling to
accommodate 11/billion people on our planet within the next 40/years,
in the lifetime of our children.
What must we do then about all of this. When we leave here we must
surely build, on the foundations that we have established here, a new
global partnership, the partnership needed to give effect to the
decisions you have made here. Specifically, we must build further and
quickly on the climate change convention, on the biodiversity
convention, and move quickly in the negotiation of a desertification
convention, continue to move negotiations towards a forestry regime
that will be acceptable to all, and advance from the Rio/Declaration
to the Earth Charter. As to Agenda/21, it is up to you to go back to
your countries - and many of you have encouragingly said that you
intend this - and translate Agenda/21 and the decisions that you have
taken at the global level into your own national policies and
practices. And we must do this within the United Nations and at the
regional level, at the local level and at the level of organizations
and people.
On finance, we must translate the good indications given here by
many into specific commitments. And I would hope that a good many of
the larger donor countries, in particular, will do this by the time
the General Assembly considers this item in its next session. We must
also start the process of developing new sources of funding, because
the steps we have taken still do not promise to meet the larger needs.
We should consider, for example, new taxes, user charges, emission
permits, citizen funding, all based on the polluter pays principle. I
believe the amounts of money available simply from funds wasted in
existing subsidies to non-environmentally-sound activities could alone
provide all the money necessary as an indispensable investment in
environmental security.
On technology transfer, we must begin immediately the job of
capacity-building. And here we all welcome and support
President/Collor's initiative for the establishment in Rio/de/Janeiro
of a world-class international development centre.
We must also expand the participatory process that has meant so
much to us here - participation of people through non-governmental
organizations in the implementation of Agenda/21, and indeed in the
United Nations itself. I believe we need to review entirely the
system of arrangements within the United Nations for greater
participation of these organizations.
Finally, the remainder of this decade must be a time of transition
which will truly move us on to the pathway to a new economy. The
president of one of the great corporations of our world told the
Preparatory Committee in an informal session at its last meeting in
New York that the present economic system is simply not adequate.
This does not mean it needs to be scrapped, but it needs to be
radically revised to bring it into tune with eco-realities. We need
to move to a real eco-nomic system.
The elimination of poverty has come through here as an important
objective. But perhaps we are not really committed to making this a
central objective for the whole world community as we move into the
twenty-first century. The new world order must unite us all in a
global partnership which, of course, has to respect national
sovereignty as a basic tenet, but must also recognize the transcending
sovereignty of nature, of our only one Earth.
The carrying capacity of our Earth can only sustain present and
future generations if it is matched by the caring capacity of its
people and its leaders. We must bring our species under control, for
our own survival, for that of all life on our precious planet. Thanks
to you, we now have a unique opportunity to do this. We have a basis
for doing it in the decisions you have taken. We have the
responsibility to start this road now. Our experience in Rio has been
as historic and exhilarating as the road that brought us here. The
road from Rio will be long, exciting, challenging. It will open a
whole new era of promise and opportunity for our species if we change
direction; but only if we start now.
I think you all will agree that we must change the course that we
have been on. That is why we are here. The message from the children
delivered as we opened this session this morning, gathered during the
15,000-mile journey of Gaia, and the voices of the children we heard
here the other night as our session closed, all tell us why we are
doing it - we are doing it for them. They have a right to expect it
from us; they are going to hold us accountable for what we do after
Rio about the decisions you have taken here.
You heard the other night from a fellow Canadian, a lovely young
12-year-old girl, Severn/Suzuki. And I want to close these remarks by
reminding you of what she said, which I believe every child on this
planet will have in his or her heart as they look at what you have
done here at Rio. She said:
"Parents used to be able to comfort their children by saying
'Everything's going to be all right; we're doing the best we can
and it's not the end of the world'. But you can't say that to us
any more. Our planet is becoming worse and worse for all future
children. Yet we only hear adults talking about local interests
and national priorities. Are we even on your list of priorities?
You grown-ups say you love us, but we challenge you to make your
actions reflect your words."
We are all challenged, in the responsibilities we carry as we leave
Rio, to make our actions reflect the words which have testified to our
commitment here.
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