The Rio

Agreement
SUMMARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS
CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT
AND DEVELOPMENT
We do not inherit the earth from our
fathers, we borrow it from our children.
(Inuit saying)

Introduction
From the 3rd-14th day of June 1992, Rio de Janeiro hosted the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The focus of this conference was
the state of the global environment and the relationship between economics, science
and the environment in a political context. The conference concluded with the Earth
Summit, at which leaders of 105 nations gathered to demonstrate their commitment to
sustainable development.
History of the Summit
In 1972, Stockholm, Sweden, hosted the first United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment, which was attended by 113 delegates and two heads of state (Olaf Palme of
Sweden and Indira Gandhi of India).

The conference raised a generation's awareness of an issue hitherto little talked about, the
global environment. It secured a permanent place for the environment on the world's agenda
and led to the establishment of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Introduced the idea of the relationship between development and the environment.

It has been said that the only way to unite the countries of the world is for them to face a
common enemy; perhaps environmental degradation will be that enemy.
History of the Summit
1972 Stockholm, Sweden, First United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
1978 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and USA;
1979 Geneva Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution;
1985 Helsinki Agreement (a 21-nation commitment to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions);
1988 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer;
1989 Basel Convention on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal;

It was this kind of international cooperation that the 1992 Rio conference sought, but on a larger scale.

In 1983, the UN General Assembly set up the World Commission on Environment and Development, known
as the Brundtland Commission after its chairperson, Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. Its
aim was to link environmental issues to the findings of the 1980 Brandt report on North-South relations. The
Brundtland report, published in 1987 as Our Common Future, declared that the time had come for a
marriage between the environment and the economy and used the term "sustainable development" as the
way to ensure that economic development would not endanger the ability of future generations to enjoy
the fruits of the earth.
 History of the Summit
On the twentieth anniversary of the Stockholm Conference on the
Human Environment, representatives from 178 nations, non-
governmental agencies (NGOs) and other interested parties
(approximately 30,000 in total including members of the media),
met in Rio de Janeiro to discuss global environmental issues that
would become central to policy implementation.
The conference sought agreement on concrete measures to
reconcile economic activities with protection of the planet to ensure a
sustainable future for all people.
This is the first UN Conference on Environment and Development --
UNCED for short, but better known as the "Earth Summit" after its
final three days -- was the culmination of two and one half years of
world-wide consultation that demonstrates the best intentions of the
human race to live responsibly.
Canada Prepares for the Summit

An interdepartmental committee on UNCED was established

and co-chaired by Environment Canada and External Affairs
and International Trade Canada (EAITC) with representation
from 20 federal departments and agencies. This group was
responsible for coordinating the federal government's
preparations for both UNCED and the International Preparatory
Committee Meetings (PrepComs). Under the heading Agenda
21, groups were organized to address each of 21 issues,
synthesizing departmental interests into drafts of the Canadian
positions and identifying desirable outcomes from UNCED.
UNCED Ambition
To addressed environmental issues such as;
1. the protection of air, land and water;
2. conservation of biological diversity, forests, and natural
resources; and
3. sound management of wastes and technology.

It was a unique opportunity for world leaders to curtail the

human activities that are threatening our planet and bringing
about pollution of land, ocean and atmosphere, drought,
desertification through land degradation, thinning of the ozone
layer, global warming and the threat of rising sea levels, and the
extinction of plant and animal species
The Rio Declaration
It had been hoped that the Earth Charter drafted as a moral framework
for environmental development would be adopted as a legally binding
document at the Conference. It affirmed the rights of all citizens to a
clean environment and the rights of developing countries to pursue
sustainable development. Instead, the Earth Charter was replaced by a 27-
clause statement of principles called the Rio Declaration.
The Canadian position put forward by Mr. Mulroney was to continue to
urge the international community to adopt a true Earth Charter of
environmental rights and responsibilities with 1995, the 50th anniversary
of the founding of the United Nations, as the target completion date.
Canada hopes that the Charter will be used to set up some soft law
principles to provide international benchmarks for appropriate sustainable
development.
 Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
Having met at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992,
Reaffirming the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, adopted at
Stockholm on 16 June 1972, and seeking to build upon it,
With the goal of establishing a new and equitable global partnership through the creation of new
levels of cooperation among States, key sectors of societies and people,
Working towards international agreements which respect the interests of all and protect the integrity
of the global environmental and developmental system,
Recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, our home,

Proclaims that:
Principle 1
Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a
healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.
 Principle 2
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of
international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own
environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within
their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas
beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

Principle 3
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and
environmental needs of present and future generations.

Principle 4
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an
integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.

Principle 5
All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an
indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in
standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world.
 Principle 6
The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least developed and
those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special priority. International actions in the
field of environment and development should also address the interests and needs of all countries.

Principle 7
States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the
health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the different contributions to global
environmental degradation, States have common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed
countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit to sustainable
development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the
technologies and financial resources they command.

Principle 8
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should
reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote
appropriate demographic policies.
 Principle 9
States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable
development by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and
technological knowledge, and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and
transfer of technologies, including new and innovative technologies.

Principle 10
Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the
relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to
information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including
information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to
participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public
awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to
judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.

Principle 11
States shall enact effective environmental legislation. Environmental standards,
management objectives and priorities should reflect the environmental and development
context to which they apply. Standards applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of
unwarranted economic and social cost to other countries, in particular developing countries.
 Principle 12
States should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international economic system that
would lead to economic growth and sustainable development in all countries, to better address the
problems of environmental degradation. Trade policy measures for environmental purposes should
not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on
international trade.
Unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of the
importing country should be avoided. Environmental measures addressing transboundary or global
environmental problems should, as far as possible, be based on an international consensus.

Principle 13
States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of
pollution and other environmental damage. States shall also cooperate in an expeditious and more
determined manner to develop further international law regarding liability and compensation for
adverse effects of environmental damage caused by activities within their jurisdiction or control to
areas beyond their jurisdiction.
 Principle 14
States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent the relocation and transfer to
other States of any activities and substances that cause severe environmental degradation or are
found to be harmful to human health.

Principle 15
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by
States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage,
lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures
to prevent environmental degradation.

Principle 16
National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs
and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in
principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting
international trade and investment.
 Principle 17
Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for proposed
activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to
a decision of a competent national authority.

Principle 18
States shall immediately notify other States of any natural disasters or other emergencies that
are likely to produce sudden harmful effects on the environment of those States. Every effort shall
be made by the international community to help States so afflicted.

Principle 19
States shall provide prior and timely notification and relevant information to potentially
affected States on activities that may have a significant adverse transboundary environmental
effect and shall consult with those States at an early stage and in good faith.
 Principle 20
Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is
therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.

Principle 21
The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world should be mobilized to forge a global
partnership in order to achieve sustainable development and ensure a better future for all.

Principle 22
Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have a vital role in
environmental management and development because of their knowledge and traditional practices.
States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interests and enable their
effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development.

Principle 23
The environment and natural resources of people under oppression, domination and occupation
shall be protected.
 Principle 24
Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development. States shall therefore respect international law
providing protection for the environment in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its further development, as
necessary.

Principle 25
Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible.

Principle 26
States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by appropriate means in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations.

Principle 27
States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership in the fulfilment of the principles
embodied in this Declaration and in the further development of international law in the field of sustainable
development.

Source: Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.73.II.A.14 and corrigendum), chap. I.
WHAT HAPPENED AT RIO?

At UNCED, more than 130 nations signed a Convention on Climate Change and a Convention on
Biodiversity. The delegates also reached agreement on Agenda 21, an action plan for developing the
planet sustainably through the twenty-first century, and on a broad statement of principles for
protecting forests. All nations present accepted without change the Rio Declaration, a non-binding
statement of broad principles for environmental policy (see p. 19). New international networks,
both formal and informal, were set up to carry out and oversee implementation of the agreements.
In the end, the UNCED negotiations came down to a matter of money. The industrialized
nations have it and the developing nations want it. If the industrialized nations want environmental
protection, they must be prepared to pay for it. The tensions between rich and poor and the
financial conflicts that underlie them were at the heart of every major negotiation.
Before the summit, Mr. Strong, UNCED Secretary General, had defined success as a minimum of
an extra $10 billion a year of "new money" from Western countries to finance summit commitments
in the Third World.(10) The $6-$7 billion pledged at the conference, implies a good start. This
figure is based on the supposition that Japan will increase its aid budget by 50% over the next five
years, to a total of $5 billion.
MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNCED COMMITMENTS
A. Agencies
How will all these promises, ideas and commitments made at Rio be implemented? The Earth Council and the International
Sustainable Development Commission were suggested at the conference as possible overseeing agencies.
The Earth Council is to be an independent watchdog operating outside the UN system. It will examine the legal and institutional
framework of the International Agreements and instruments, and set a charter of the rights and obligations for the players in the
environment and development process at the international, national and regional levels.(40)
The International Sustainable Development Commission would most likely emerge as a permanent organization like the Brundtland
Commission in Geneva. It would be modelled on the 53-country UN Human Rights Commission and would report to the United Nations
Economic and Social Council. It would use moral pressure and public opinion to persuade countries to follow the policies outlined at
the Rio Conference and would rely on information and evidence supplied by non-government, government, inter-developmental
organizations and environmental groups. Its duties would include monitoring, assessment and reporting on post-Rio progress.
Although the Commission would have no powers of enforcement, it would be expected to influence events through moral suasion. It
would in essence act as a watchdog to ensure governments kept their pledges. It was further proposed that representation on the
Commission be at the ministerial level, with its first meeting be held no later than 1993. In the meantime, reports on the
Commission's structure, administration and staffing are to be prepared for the General Assembly, based on the preliminary work to be
done by the UNCED secretariat.(41)
B. Countries
Though the negotiated positions of the 154 participating governments at UNCED are well documented in the five major agreements,
the positions of individual governments are not. The five most influential countries at UNCED might summarize their attitudes as
follows: Canada, "do it"; United States, "delay it"; Germany, "regulate it"; Japan, "solve it"; and India, "sell it."(42)
Canada participated in all the discussions, promised to ratify the conventions quickly, and made a genuine effort to make the Earth
Summit a success. In recent years Canada has implemented many initiatives in support of its commitment to the environment, for
example the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy, the Environmental Choice Program and the National Packaging
Protocol.(43) A major commitment is Canada's Green Plan, launched in 1990. Similar in spirit to Agenda 21, it details targets and
schedules for a multitude of activities. Implementation of the Green Plan initiatives so far supports federal estimates that Canada
will reach the Agenda 21 objectives by the year 2000.(44)