The first Earth Summit

UNESCO Courier, Nov, 1991

TWENTY years after the first World Conference on the Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, the international community is faced with a serious dilemma. On the one hand it is more necessary than ever to increase economic activity in order to meet basic needs and ensure the well-being of a rapidly growing human family. On the other, human activities are making an unprecedented impact on the natural environment and on the global systems which sustain life on Earth, as is demonstrated by air and water pollution, the massive degradation of land resources, the destruction of landscapes, climate changes induced by the wasteful use of energy, the rapid disappearance of animal and plant species, and the depletion of the ozone layer.

In face of problems of such magnitude, inaction is out of the question. The General Assembly of the United Nations has thus decided to convene a new United Nations Conference, this time on Environment and Development (UNCED), which will be held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from 1 to 12 June 1992. Many Heads of State and Government are expected to attend this first "Earth Summit".

* WHAT IS AT STAKE

The problem facing the Rio Conference is how to maintain the quality of the environment and to achieve environmentally sound, sustainable development in all countries. The following questions will be among those addressed:

* protection of the atmosphere (climate change, depletion of the ozone layer, transboundary air pollution);

* protection of land resources (combating deforestation, soil loss, desertification and drought);

* conservation of biological diversity;

* protection of freshwater resources;

* protection of oceans, seas and coastal areas, and the rational use and development of their living resources;

* environmentally sound management of biotechnology and hazardous wastes (including toxic chemicals);

* prevention of illegal traffic in toxic products and wastes;

* improvement in the quality of life and human health;

* improvement in living and working conditions of the poor by eradicating poverty and stopping environmental degradation.

The developing countries stress the vital importance of the problems associated with poverty, inappropriate patterns of growth and development, the external debt crisis and the deterioration of terms of trade.

* POSSIBLE RESULTS

The results of the Conference may include:

1. The adoption of an "Earth Charter" or declaration of basic principles for the conduct of nations and peoples in relation to the environment and development, to ensure that the Earth is a hospitable home for human and other forms of life;

2. Agreements on specific legal measures, notably conventions for the protection of the atmosphere and biological diversity, both currently being negotiated;

3. An agenda for action, "Agenda 21", establishing an agreed work programme of the international community for the period from 1992 into the 21st century, setting priorities, targets, cost estimates and modalities, and assigning responsibilities.

UNESCO'S ROLE

At the crossroads of education, science, culture and communication, UNESCO offers a unique institutional framework for dealing with environmental and natural resource management problems that are so complex that only integrated and interdisciplinary approaches are appropriate for tackling them.

Most of the principal environmental issues identified for UNCED are central to three of UNESCO's major and longstanding international scientific programmes:

* The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme for the protection and management of land resources and ecosystems, and the conservation of biological diversity. In this field MAB is a particularly valuable tool because of its international network of biosphere reserves;

* The International Hydrological Programme (IHP) for the study of freshwater resources and their rational use;

* Programmes of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and related activities in the marine sciences, for the protection of coastal areas, the rational use of marine resources, and the study of the relationship between the oceans and climate.

UNESCO is also directly concerned with environmental problems through another of its main areas of competence, education. It has played an active role in encouraging the incorporation of environmental education into national education policies and curricula. The UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP), launched in 1975, is preparing new materials for teachers and schools in the form of teaching modules and other materials relating to environmental education and is participating in the training of teachers in this field.

UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences Sector is also contributing to environmental programmes through study of the interrelationships between population, environment, natural resources and development, and of the decision-making process related to environment and development.

Finally, UNESCO is closely involved with the protection of the cultural as well as the natural heritage, notably within the framework of the World Heritage Convention. It is also concerned with analysis of the cultural dimension of development, without which environment and development would be difficult to reconcile.