OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL ENV. ISSUES & COOPERATION

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
 

• UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCES
1972 Conference on Human Environment (held in Stockholm)
Developing nations' concerns
U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP)
Limits to Growth
1992 Conference on Environment and Development - "Earth Summit" (Rio de Janeiro)
Agenda 21
Rio Declaration
Conventions on Climate and Biodiversity
Forest Principles
1994 Conference on Population and Development (Cairo)

2002 EARTH SUMMIT II

 
• UNITED NATIONS "CONVENTIONS"
   -Agreements that are developed and voluntarily signed by countries
   -Countries agree to be bound by them
   -Usually entail further extensive discussion, improvement & administration   • Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) COORDINATION * LARGE & SMALL -

* GRASSROOTS

* IMPORTANT ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21
 

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

COMMONS DILEMMAS AND SOLUTIONS

Truly global scale of human impact on the environment
and emerging global scale of solutions





GLOBAL COMMONS ARE UN-OWNED, OPEN-ACCESS RESOURCES
    (recall ideas proposed by Garrett Hardin in "The tragedy of the commons")
 
 
GLOBAL COMMONS,OR UN-OWNED RESOURCE: THREATS GOVERNED BY U.N. CONVENTIONS
MARINE:
OCEANS WASTE DUMPING 1989 Basel Convention
OIL POLLUTION 1982, 1994 Law of the Sea;
Prevention of Pollution fr. Ships
FISH POPULATIONS OVER-FISHING, DEPLETION 1982, 1994 Law of the Sea
ATMOSPHERE:
AIR QUALITY RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty 
1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
POLLUTANTS (acid precip, particulates, POP'S) 1979 Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution
OZONE LAYER CFC's; INCREASE IN ULTRAVIOLET-B RADIATION 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
1987 Montreal Protocol
GAS BALANCES CO2, Methane, etc: 
CLIMATE CHANGE		 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change
1997 Kyoto Protocol

 


 

SOLUTIONS TO THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS:

1. VULUNTARY SELF-RESTRAINT

2. PRIVATE OWNERSHIP

3. REGULATION ("mutually agreed upon")

 
 

1. EXAMPLE OF VOLUNTARY SELF-RESTRAINT:
WHALING

Blue Whale                                                                                             Sperm whale


INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE REGULATION OF WHALING, 1946

INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION

•LIMITS ON WHALING

•FAILED WHEN IT CONFLICTED WITH ECONOMIC & CULTURAL INTEREST (NORWAY, JAPAN)

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research
Recent news on persistence of Japanese whaling
 
2. EXAMPLE OF PRIVATIZING:

REGULATING FISHERIES

LAW OF THE SEA (1973-82)

• ESTABLISHED 200-MILE 'EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONES' (EEZ's) (1977)

• NEW VERY POWERFUL FISH-CATCHING TECHNOLOGIES

• PROBLEMS ARE WITHIN NATIONAL JURISDICTIONS

• OVERFISHING AND BY-CATCH (WASTE) IN EEZ's

• U.S. & OTHER COUNTRIES SUBSIDIZED THEIR FISHING FLEETS

• WEAKNESS OF INDUSTRY SELF-POLICING

• HOW FAR CAN INTERNATIONAL CONTROL GO?



 
 

3. EXAMPLES OF REGULATION:

GLOBAL GAS BALANCES





a. OZONE LAYER THINNING - SUCCESS CASE

OZONE DIAGRAM

CAUSES OF DEPLETION:
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) & halon gases
• In aerosols, foams, refrigeration, air conditioners, solvents, fire extinguishers.
• Long lived,  emissions reach the stratosphere and cause ozone depletion

CONCERNS:

  • UV-B RADIATION MAY CAUSE:
  • SKIN CANCER
  • SUPPRESSED IMMUNE RESPONSE
  • EYE DISORDERS
    •
  • SUSPECTED IN SOME AMPHIBIAN DECLINES
  • MORTALITY OF ORGANISMS IN SURFACE LAYER OF OCEANS

    •  

     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    RESPONSE:
    •1985 - VIENNA CONVENTION   (U.N. OZONE  SECRETARIAT)

    •1987 - MONTREAL PROTOCOLCREATED BINDING TARGETS

    •MORE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE CAME IN IDENTIFYING HUMAN CAUSES

    • FURTHER AMENDMENTS:London (1990), Copenhagen (1992), Vienna (1995), Montreal (1997) and Beijing (1999)
     


    -KEY FACTORS IN THIS SUCCESS:
     

    • POLICY  RESPONSIVE  TO SCIENCE

    •ACTION DESPITE UNCERTAINTY

    •PUBLIC PRESSURE

    •U.N. Env. Program & U.S. LEADERSHIP

    •BUSINESS & ENV. GROUPS INVOLVED

    •ADAPTING REGULATIONS TO ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES AMONG NATIONS

    •IMPLEMENTING SUBSTITUES CHEMICALS FOR CFC'S WAS A LIMITED AND DO-ABLE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE

     

    b. CLIMATE CHANGE - "LITTLE  SUCCESS YET" CASE

    CAUSES - "GREENHOUSE GASES"

    CO2 CARBON DIOXIDE -75% from fossil fuels & cement manufacture
    -25% from land clearing
    -responsible for est. 60% of warming from human activity     CH4 METHANE traps 25 times as much heat as CO2
    -natural sources:wetlands, rice paddies & animals
    -production of oil & natural gas
    -7-10 year residency     N2O NITROUS OXIDE -traps 230 times as much heat as CO2
    -from nylon production, burning of coal & biomass & breakdown of N fertilizers
    -140-190 year residency     CFCs CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS -traps 1,500-1,700 as much heat per molecule as CO2
    -65-130 year residency
    -destroys O3 , creating a cooling effect         CONCERNS:


    RESPONSE:

    •1988 - CHANGING ATMOSPHERE CONFERENCE IN TORONTO -RECOMMENDED REDUCTION OF CO2 TO 20% 1988 LEVELS BY 2005 •1990 - WORLD CLIMATE CONFERENCE IN GENEVA -RECOMMENDED ACROSS-THE BOARD CUTS

    -U.S. WAS ONLY INDUSTRIAL NATION REFUSING
     

     •1991 - NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE EARTH SUMMIT -U.S. REFUSES TO AGREE TO A TIMETABLE TO LIMIT C02 •1992 - CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION AT THE EARTH SUMMIT (UN Conf. on Env. &Devel.) IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL -U.S. AGAIN  INTRANSIGENT

    -SPECIFIED NO TARGETS OR DEADLINES
     

     •1996 - WORK BEGAN ON THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
     

    •1997, DECEMBER: KYOTO PROTOCOL

    -DEVELOPED WORLD COMMITTMENT:
    REDUCE EMISSIONS TO 5.2% BELOW 1990 LEVELS     • 2000, NOVEMBER: MEETING IN THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS -DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION  OF  KYOTO PROTOCOL
    -U.S. -ENDS  IN  FAILURE
     


    Links for more on international environmental agreements and law
    Earth Summit 2002 links to U.N. Program pages
    Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI) (has searchable databases)
    Greenpeace- related link "Globelaw";         Link for Searching by topic
    Cornell Unversity Legal Information Institute
    American Society of International Law