1971
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Nearly 1,200 wetland
sites in 133 countries, totaling 103 million hectares, have been
designated for protection and monitoring under this international agreement to conserve
wetlands and use them sustainably.
1972
Programme on Man and the Biosphere and World Heritage Convention
Under UNESCO, these
initiatives set a framework for designating, protecting, and
monitoring some of the world's most important biodiversity and cultural hotspots. As of May
2002, 94 countries had established a total of 408 biosphere reserves under the Man and the
Biosphere Programme.
Encourages countries
to protect areas with outstanding physical, biological and geological
formations, habitats of threatened animal and plant species, and areas with scientific,
conservation or aesthetic value.
1973
Washington Convention on International Trade in Endagered spceis of Wild
Fauna and Flora
(CITES) (152 parties)
Restricts trade
in species that are either threatened with extinction or that may become
endagered it their trade is unregulated
International convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)
(112 parties)
Restricts intentional
discharges of oil, sewage, garbage, noxious liquids, packaged toxins
and airborne emissions at sea. Sets standards for ship construction and operation.
1983
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
Eighty countries
have signed this agreement, also known as the Bonn Convention, to
protect migratory wildlife species, including birds, throughout their international migratory,
breeding, and wintering areas.
1979
Bonn Convention
on the Conservation of Migrataory Species of Wild animals (CMS) (70 parties)
Ouitrlines strict
protection for more than 70 endangered terrestrial, marine and avian
migratory species throughout their range. Establishes conservation and management rules
for more than 170 additional species under potential threat.
1882
U.N. Convention
on the Law of theSea (UNCLOS) (135 parties)
Establishes a broad
framework lgoverning ocean use that encompasses other oceans
agreements. Designates 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Includes provisions
on conservation of living marine resouirces, maintenance and restoration of marine
populations, andprotection of the sea from pollution.
1987
Montreal Protocol
on Substances that Deplet the Ozone Layer (175 parties)
In the mid-1980s, the world community came face to face with the first environmental
problem of
truly global proportions: damage to the stratospheric ozone layer that protects life on Earth from
harmful ultra-violet radiation. Negotiators were spurred to action by concern over the "ozone hole"
over the Antarctic and mounting scientific evidence that chloroflu- orocarbons and other synthetic
chemicals were to blame. In September 1987 they finalized a landmark in international
environmental law: the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Experience to date with the accord suggests that making it work will require innovative approaches
to implementation and enforcement.
The 175-member Protocol, which has been strengthened several times since 1987, calls
for the
gradual phaseout and elimination of some 95 ozone-depleting chemicals, including CFCs, halons,
HCFCs, and methyl bromide. Industrial countries were required under the treaty to phase out CFC
production for nearly all domestic uses by the beginning of 1996. Developing countries, however,
were given until 1999 to freeze their CFC consumption and production, and must completely phase
out the chemicals by 2010. Similar phaseout timetables exist for the other ozone-depleting
substances covered under the treaty.
Scientists estimate that if all countriescomply fully with the Protocol, the ozone
shield will
gradually begin to heal within the next few years, with a full recovery to pre-1980 levels expected
by
about 2050. So far, however, little progress is visible, as the ozone layer continues to be damaged
by chemicals that have built up in the stratosphere over decades. Some of the worst ozone holes
ever recorded still appear annually over the northern and southern poles as a result, posing a threat
to human and wildlife populations in these areas.
Overall, most countries have met their obligations to the Montreal Protocol in a timely
fashion. By
1997, global CFC production was down 85 percent from its 1986 level, as the treaty began to spur
the development of alternatives for the chemicals. But the picture has not been uniformly bright.
The most serious cases of noncom-pliance occurred when growing economic instability prevented
Russia and several other countries in transition—including Belarus, Bulgaria, Poland, and
Ukraine— from meeting their 1996 deadline. Under pressure from the treaty's secretariat, most
of
these countries were able to catch up fairly easily—except Russia, the only major CFC producer
of
the group. By 1998, Russia still housed roughly half of the global CFC manufacturing capacity and
produced some 9 percent of the world's CFCs.
When it was clear that Russia would be unable to make the transition alone, the international
community agreed to provide funding to compensate Russian producers for shutting down
production and converting equipment at key manufacturing facilities. After two years of
negotiations, the World Bank and several other international donors stepped in with $26 million in
October 2000. In exchange, Russia promised to adhere to a detailed schedule to phase out
production at its seven main sites.
1989
Basel Convention on the Control ofTransboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and Their
Disposal (141 parties)
Restricts the international
export of hazardous wastes from industrial to developing countries,
unless the importing country agrees to accept them. Far-reaching 1994 amendment completely
bans all hazardous waste exports to developing countries for final disposal and recovery
operations, but is not yet in force.
1992
Convention on Biodiversity
A total of 185 countries
have signed on to this agreement, which was introduced at the
Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Signatories promise to set up strategies for protecting their
biodiversity, including habitat protection and restoration. Fewer than 40 have drawn up
formal plans so far.
The World Conservation
Strategy, the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and
Beyond, and the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development
propose three main objectives for all conservation policies and practices: to ensure the
sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems; to maintain essential ecological
processes and life-support systems; and to conserve genetic diversity. The World
Conservation Strategy emphasizes the formulation of national conservation strategies as a
priority for national action. So far only about 35 countries have started to do so, but a global
network of gene banks has been established to house the World Base Collection of crop
germplasm, and more than 100 countries are collaborating in it. Biosafety
protocol of 2000 addresses
the effects of transboundary shipment and use of genetically modified organisms.
1995
U.N. Agreement Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling
Fish Stocks and
Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (28 parties; not yet in force).
Expands the scope
of UNCLOS, prescribing a precautionary approach to the management
and conservation of fisheries that straddle EEZ boundaries and migrate across the high
seas. Grants parties the right to board and inspect vessels of other parties and obligates
parties to collect and share data.
1998
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain
Hazardous Chemicals
and Pesticides in International Trade (PIC Convention) (I I parties; not yet in force)
Restricts the international
export of 27 harmful pesticides and industrial chemicals that have
been banned or severely restricted in many countries, unless the importing country agrees
to accept them.
2002
Kyoto Protocol on climate change
In its 2001 report,
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that "there is new
and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is
attributable to human activities" that have increased atmospheric concentrations of CO2
Preindustrial concentrations were 280 ppm; today they are 371 ppm. Between 1990 and
2100, global temperatures are projected to increase between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celsius,
and land areas will likely warm faster than the global average.
To stabilize CO2" at 450... ppm would require global anthropogenic
[human-made]
emissions to drop below 1990 levels, within a few decades." Even if greenhouse gas
emissions were to stabilize at present levels, it is expected that average temperatures and
sea level would continue rising for centuries, but the rate of change will slow once
stabilization is achieved. Under provisions of the Kyoto Protocol to the U.N. Framework
Convention on Climate Change, industrial countries must reduce their CO2
emissions an
average 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels by the end of the first "commitment period"
(2008- 12).The protocol will enter into force 90 days after ratification by 55 countries
accounting for at least 55 percent of industrial-country 1990 CO2
emissions. As of mid-
October 2002, 96 nations had ratified Kyoto, including the European Union and Japan,
representing 37.4 percent of industrial-country emissions. Russia (17.4 percent) and Poland
(3 percent) have officially declared their intention to ratify it soon—which would raise the
total to 57.8 percent and thus bring the protocol into effect.
The United States
represents 25 percent of current global emissions, and 36.4 percent of
industrial-country 1990 emissions. Its March 2001 withdrawal from negotiations on the
protocol dealt a blow to international efforts to battle climate change, but it also pushed the
rest of the world to move forward and reach final agreement on the treaty in July 2001.
