AGENDA
21
RIO
DECLARATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
AGENDA
21:PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
1.
Preamble
Section
1: Social and economic dimensions
2. International co-operation
3.
Combating poverty
4. Changing consumption patterns
5. Demographic considerations
6. Health
7. Dwellings
8. Integrating environment and development
Section
2: Conservation and management of resources for development
9. PProtection
of the atmosphere
10. Planning and management of land resources
11. Deforestation
12. Desertification
13. Mountain development
14. Agriculture and rural
development
15. Biological diversity
16. Management of biotechnology
17. Oceans
18. Freshwater resources
19. Management of toxic chemicals
20. Management of hazardous wastes
21. Management of solid wastes
22.
Management of radioactive wastes
Section
3: Strengthening the role of major groups
23. Preamble
24. Action
for women
25. Children and youth
26. Indigenous people
27. Strengthening
non-government organisations
28. Local authorities
29. Strengthening the
role of workers and trade unions
30. Strengthening the role of business and
industry
31. Science and technology
32. Strengthening the role of farmers
Section
4: Means of implementation
33. Financial resources and mechanisms
34. Technology transfer, co-operation and capacity building
35. Science for
sustainable development
36. Education, public awareness and training
37.
International co-operation for capacity building
38. International institutional
arrangements
39. International legal instruments and mechanisms
40. Information
for decision-making
STATEMENT OF FOREST PRINCIPLES
Note:
The sub-headings above are abbreviations of the original document.
The Rio
Declaration is shown on the following pages.
RIO
DECLARATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Having
met at Rio de Janeiro from 3rd to 14th June 1992,
Reaffirming
the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, adopted
at Stockholm on 16th 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 co-operation 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,
Recognising
the integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, our home,
Proclaims
that:
Principle
1
Human beings are at the centre 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 development 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 co-operate in the essential task of
eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement of 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
7
States shall co-operate 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 of sustainable
development 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 co-operate 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 the 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
tin their communities, and the opportunity to participate in the 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 developmental 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 co-operate 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 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
co-operate 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 co-operate 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 internalisation
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 the 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 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 mobilised 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 recognise 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 co-operate 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 co-operate in good faith and in a spirit of
partnership in fulfilment of the principles embodied in this Declaration and in
the further development of international law in the field of sustainable development.
