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International
Relations-PSC 201
VU
LESSON
43
THE
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Current
Scope of Environmental
Cooperation
Since
1970, hundreds of international
environmental instruments have
been concluded. Including
bilateral
and
multilateral instruments (binding &
non-binding), there are
almost 1,000 international
legal instruments
with
one or more environmental provisions.
Most countries are
signatories to some or many of
these
agreements.
Relevant
stakeholders concerning environmental
laws include not only states
but corporations,
intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations. At the
'Earth Summit' in Rio in
1992, the
international
community affirmed that current patterns
of economic and social development
are not
sustainable.
The
subject-matter of international
environmental agreements has
expanded significantly from the focus
in
the
first half of this century on
facilitating navigation, guaranteeing
fishing rights, and protecting
particularly
valued
animal species. The duties
have also become more
comprehensive: from a focus on
research and
monitoring
to provisions for reductions in
pollutants.
The
scope of international agreements
has expanded greatly from
transboundary to global pollution
agreements;
from preservation of designated species
to that of ecosystems; from
control of direct emissions
into
lakes to comprehensive river-basin-system
regimes; from agreements
taking effect
beyond
national
borders to ones that
constrain activities within
national borders, such as
those for world
heritages
and
wetlands.
Individual
countries have also negotiated
many global agreements. For
e.g., the Vienna Convention on
the
Protection
of the Ozone Layer provides a framework
for ozone protection but
also calls for
research,
monitoring,
and exchange of information
between countries.
The
Montreal Protocol on Substances
That Deplete the Ozone Layer; and
Kyoto Protocol on
Climate
Change
are other significant global climate
protection agreements.
Then
there is the Basel Convention on the
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and Their
Disposal
and the London Guidelines for the
Exchange of Information on Chemicals in
International Trade.
In
Asia, ASEAN has concluded
the Convention on the Conservation of Nature,
which provides ecosystem
protection
and controls on trade in endangered
species.
Environmental
Concerns and IR
The
relationship between economic development
and environmental protection
complicates the situation.
National
interest has traditionally
meant the identification of interests of
one country that are
distinct from
or
even contrary to those of
another.
Increasingly
we recognize that the global
environment has interests
that are common to all
countries. In the
case
of ozone depletion, for
instance, at the most basic level the US
interest is not contrary to that
of
England
or Germany rather there is a common
interest in controlling ozone
depletion. For
controlling
marine
pollution, the transport of hazardous
waste, or the concentrations of
greenhouse gases, global
cooperation
is vital.
Some
Other Issues
There
is ample evidence to suggest
that it is more effective to prevent
pollution and
natural-resource
degradation,
such as eroded watersheds,
than to compensate for
damages caused. Often the
damages are
irreversible,
or if reversible, they have high
costs.
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International
Relations-PSC 201
VU
There
is no way to calculate accurately
damages to the natural environment to
provide compensation.
More
recent
international environmental instruments
recognize the importance of including all
relevant parties in
the
agreements.
Developing
countries need economic
incentives, such as technical
assistance and financial support,
and
differentiated
implementation schemes for developing
countries.
It
is well known that poverty
is a primary form of ecological
degradation. Thus, meeting the
basic needs of
peoples
is essential to environmental
conservation.
Thus,
sustainable environmental protection
requires cooperation between states
and between different
groups
within states. The
reconciliation and integration of
environmental protection with
economic growth,
including
environmental measures and
trading practices is
crucial.
Relevant
Vocabulary
Provisions
supplies or necessities
Endangered
in
fear of extinction
Compensation
-
payment for damages, or a
reward for doing
something
Degradation
dilapidation or ruin
Suggested
Readings
Students
are advised to visit the
following websites to develop a better understanding
of the various
principals
highlighted in this hand-out:
Centre
for Health and Global
Environment
www.med.harvard.edu/chge/
Beyond
Kyoto
John
Browne, "Beyond Kyoto," Foreign
Affairs,
July/August 2004