Kristine Georgia Y.

Po

Environmental Management

International Conventions, Agreements, Protocols on Environmental Protection

1. The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, or

African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) is an independent international treaty

developed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme's Convention

on Migratory Species. It was founded to coordinate efforts to conserve bird species

migrating between European and African nations, and its current scope stretches from the

Arctic to South Africa, encompassing the Canadian archipelago and the Middle East as

well as Europe and Africa. The agreement focuses on bird species that depend on wetlands

for at least part of their lifecycle and cross international borders in their migration patterns.

It currently covers 254 species.

2. The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, also known as APP,

was an international, voluntary, public-private partnership among Australia, Canada, India,

Japan, the People's Republic of China, South Korea, and the United States announced July

28, 2005 at an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum meeting

and launched on January 12, 2006 at the Partnership's inaugural Ministerial meeting in

Sydney. As of 5 April 2011, the Partnership formally concluded although a number of

individual projects continue. The conclusion of the APP and cancellation of many of its

projects attracted almost no media comment. Foreign, Environment and Energy Ministers

from partner countries agreed to co-operate on the development and transfer of technology

which enables reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that is consistent with and

complementary to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and other relevant

international instruments, and is intended to complement but not replace the Kyoto

Protocol. Ministers agreed to a Charter, Communique and Work Plan that "outline a

ground-breaking new model of private-public task forces to address climate change, energy

security and air pollution.” Member countries account for over 50% of the world's

greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, GDP and population. Unlike the Kyoto

Protocol (currently unratified by the United States), which imposes mandatory limits on

greenhouse gas emissions, the Partnership engages member countries to accelerate the

development and deployment of clean energy technologies, with no mandatory

enforcement mechanism. This has led to criticism that the Partnership is worthless, by other

governments, climate scientists and environmental groups. Proponents, on the other hand,

argue that unrestricted economic growth and emission reductions can only be brought

about through active engagement by all major polluters, which includes India and China,

within the Kyoto Protocol framework neither India nor China are yet required to reduce

emissions. Canada became the 7th member of the APP at the Second Ministerial Meeting

in New Delhi on October 15, 2007. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier

expressed his intention to join the Partnership in August 2007, despite some domestic

opposition.
3. The Bonn Agreement is a European environmental agreement. Following several oil spills

in 1969, the coastal nations of the North Sea formed the Bonn Agreement to ensure mutual

cooperation in the avoidance and combating of environmental pollution. The agreement

was revised in 1983 to include the European Union and again in 2001 to allow Ireland to

join. Members of the Bonn Agreement are Belgium, Denmark, the European Community,

France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The Bonn Agreement is an international agreement by North Sea coastal states, together

with the EC to:

 offer mutual assistance and co-operation in combating pollution;

 execute surveillance as an aid to detecting and combating pollution and to

prevent violations of anti-pollution regulations.

The Bonn Agreement is a network of professionals with responsibility for adequate

pollution response. The members of the Bonn Agreement are Belgium, Denmark,

European Community, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Representatives of these authorities ensure the execution of the Agreement. Many

European countries are leaders in the field of surveillance and combating marine pollution.

The members of the Bonn Agreement utilize this expertise with the plans and management

of pollution incidents.

4. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an

international agreement on biosafety as a supplement to the Convention on Biological

Diversity effective since 2003. The Biosafety Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity
 from the potential risks posed by genetically modified organisms resulting from modern

biotechnology. The Biosafety Protocol makes clear that products from new technologies

must be based on the precautionary principle and allow developing nations to balance

public health against economic benefits. It will for example let countries ban imports of

genetically modified organisms if they feel there is not enough scientific evidence that the

product is safe and requires exporters to label shipments containing genetically altered

commodities such as corn or cotton. The required number of 50 instruments of

ratification/accession/approval/acceptance by countries was reached in May 2003. In

accordance with the provisions of its Article 37, the Protocol entered into force on 11

September 2003. As of February 2018, the Protocol had 171 parties, which includes 168

United Nations member states, the State of Palestine, Niue, and the European Union.

5. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an arms control treaty that outlaws the

production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors. The full name

of the treaty is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production,

Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction and it is administered

by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an

intergovernmental organization based in The Hague, The Netherlands. The treaty entered

into force on 29 April 1997. The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the large-scale

use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons. Very limited

production for research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes is still permitted.

The main obligation of member states under the convention is to effect this prohibition, as
 well as the destruction of all current chemical weapons. All destruction activities must take

place under OPCW verification.

Some chemicals which have been used extensively in warfare but have numerous large-

scale industrial uses such as phosgene are highly regulated, however, certain notable

exceptions exist. Chlorine gas is highly toxic, but being a pure element and extremely

widely used for peaceful purposes, is not officially listed as a chemical weapon. Certain

state-powers (e.g. the Assad regime of Syria) continue to regularly manufacture and

implement such chemicals in combat munitions. Although these chemicals are not

specifically listed as controlled by the CWC, the use of any toxic chemical as a weapon

(when used to produce fatalities solely or mainly through its toxic action) is in-and-of itself

forbidden by the treaty. Other chemicals, such as white phosphorus, are highly toxic but

are legal under the CWC when they are used by military forces for reasons other than their

toxicity.

6. The Nairobi Convention is a partnership between governments, civil society and the

private sector, working towards a prosperous Western Indian Ocean Region with healthy

rivers, coasts and oceans. It pursues this vision by providing a mechanism for regional

cooperation, coordination and collaborative actions; it enables the Contracting Parties to

harness resources and expertise from a wide range of stakeholders and interest groups; and

in this way it helps solve inter-linked problems of the region’s coastal and marine

environment.
7. The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East

Atlantic or OSPAR Convention is the current legislative instrument regulating

international cooperation on environmental protection in the North-East Atlantic. Work

carried out under the convention is managed by the OSPAR Commission, which is made

up of representatives of the Governments of the 15 signatory nations, and representatives

of the European Commission, representing the European Union. The OSPAR Convention

was concluded at Paris on 22 September 1992. It combines and up-dates the 1972 Oslo

Convention on dumping waste at sea and the 1974 Paris Convention on land-based sources

of marine pollution. The name is likewise a combination of "Oslo" and "Paris".

8. The Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological

Emergency is a 1986 treaty of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) whereby

states have agreed to provide notification to the IAEA of any assistance that they can

provide in the case of a nuclear accident that occurs in another state that has ratified the

treaty. Along with the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, it was

adopted in direct response to the April 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The Convention was

concluded and signed at a special session of the IAEA general conference on 26 September

1986; the special session was called because of the Chernobyl disaster, which had occurred

five months before. Significantly, the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR—the states that

were responsible for the Chernobyl disaster—both signed the treaty at the conference and

quickly ratified it. It was signed by 68 states and the Convention entered into force on 26

February 1987 after the third ratification.

9. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity

Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals including: the

conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its components;

and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

In other words, its objective is to develop national strategies for the conservation and

sustainable use of biological diversity. It is often seen as the key document regarding

sustainable development. The Convention was opened for signature at the Earth Summit

in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. CBD has

two supplementary agreements - Cartagena Protocol and Nagoya Protocol. The Cartagena

Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty

governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern

biotechnology from one country to another. It was adopted on 29 January 2000 as a

supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and entered into force

on 11 September 2003. The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair

and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention

on Biological Diversity is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological

Diversity. It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of

one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising

out of the utilization of genetic resources. The Nagoya Protocol on ABS was adopted on

29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan and entered into force on 12 October 2014, 90 days

after the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification. Its objective is the fair and
 equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, thereby

contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

10. The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural

Habitats, also known as the Bern Convention (or Berne Convention), is a binding

international legal instrument in the field of Nature Conservation, it covers the natural

heritage in Europe, as well as in some African countries. The Convention was open for

signature on 19 September 1979 and came into force on 1 June 1982. It is particularly

concerned about protecting natural habitats and endangered species, including migratory

species. The convention has three main aims, which are stated in Article 1:

 to conserve wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats

 to promote cooperation between states

 to give particular attention to endangered and vulnerable species including

endangered and vulnerable migratory species

11. The Convention on Nuclear Safety is a 1994 International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) treaty that governs safety rules at nuclear power plants in state parties to the

Convention. The Convention creates obligations on state parties to implement certain

safety rules and standards at all civil facilities related to nuclear energy. These include
 issues of site selection; design and construction; operation and safety verification; and

emergency preparedness.

12. The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and

Other Matter 1972, commonly called the "London Convention" or "LC '72" and also

abbreviated as Marine Dumping, is an agreement to control pollution of the sea by dumping

and to encourage regional agreements supplementary to the Convention. It covers the

deliberate disposal at sea of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft, and platforms. It

does not cover discharges from land-based sources such as pipes and outfalls, wastes

generated incidental to normal operation of vessels, or placement of materials for purposes

other than mere disposal, providing such disposal is not contrary to aims of the Convention.

It entered into force in 1975.

13. The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and

International Lakes, also known as the Water Convention, is an international

environmental agreement and one of five UNECE's negotiated environmental treaties. The

purpose of this Convention is to improve national attempts and measures for protection and

management of transboundary surface waters and groundwaters. On the international level,

Parties are obliged to cooperate and create joint bodies. The Convention includes

provisions on: monitoring, research, development, consultations, warning and alarm

systems, mutual assistance and access as well as exchange of information.

14. The Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD), formally the Convention on

the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification

Techniques is an international treaty prohibiting the military or other hostile use of

environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects.

It opened for signature on 18 May 1977 in Geneva and entered into force on 5 October

1978. The Convention bans weather warfare, which is the use of weather modification

techniques for the purposes of inducing damage or destruction. The Convention on

Biological Diversity of 2010 would also ban some forms of weather modification or

geoengineering.

15. The 1995 Waigani Convention is a treaty that bans the exporting of hazardous or

radioactive waste to Pacific Islands Forum countries, and prohibits Forum island countries

from importing such waste. The convention has been ratified by Australia, Cook Islands,

Fiji, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea,

Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

16. The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or

other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva

Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in international
 armed conflicts. It was signed at Geneva on 17 June 1925 and entered into force on 8

February 1928. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 7 September 1929.

The Geneva Protocol is a protocol to the Convention for the Supervision of the

International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War signed on the

same date, and followed the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. It prohibits the use of

"asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices"

and "bacteriological methods of warfare". This is now understood to be a general

prohibition on chemical weapons and biological weapons, but has nothing to say about

production, storage or transfer. Later treaties did cover these aspects — the 1972 Biological

Weapons Convention (BWC) and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

A number of countries submitted reservations when becoming parties to the Geneva

Protocol, declaring that they only regarded the non-use obligations as applying to other

parties and that these obligations would cease to apply if the prohibited weapons were used

against them.

The main elements of the protocol are now considered by many to be part of customary

international law.

17. International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994 (ITTA, 1994 or ITTA2) was drafted

to ensure that by the year 2000 exports of tropical timber originated from sustainably

managed sources and to establish a fund to assist tropical timber producers in obtaining the

resources necessary to reach this objective. It defined the mandate of the International

Tropical Timber Organization.

 The agreement was opened for signature on January 26, 1994, and entered into force on

January 1, 1997.

It replaced the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1983, and was superseded by the

International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006.

18. The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to

reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part one) global

warming is occurring and (part two) it is extremely likely that human-made CO2 emissions

have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11

December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There are currently 192 parties

(Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012) to the Protocol. The Kyoto

Protocol implemented the objective of the UNFCCC to reduce the onset of global warming

by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to "a level that would prevent

dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" (Article 2). The Kyoto

Protocol applies to the six greenhouse gases listed in Annex A: Carbon dioxide (CO2),

Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons

(PFCs), and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).

The Protocol is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities: it

acknowledges that individual countries have different capabilities in combating climate

change, owing to economic development, and therefore puts the obligation to reduce
 current emissions on developed countries on the basis that they are historically responsible

for the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The Protocol's first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. A second

commitment period was agreed in 2012, known as the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto

Protocol, in which 37 countries have binding targets: Australia, the European Union (and

its 28 member states), Belarus, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland,

and Ukraine. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine have stated that they may withdraw from

the Kyoto Protocol or not put into legal force the Amendment with second round targets.

Japan, New Zealand, and Russia have participated in Kyoto's first-round but have not taken

on new targets in the second commitment period. Other developed countries without

second-round targets are Canada (which withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012) and

the United States (which has not ratified). As of October 2019, 134 states have accepted

the Doha Amendment, while entry into force requires the acceptances of 144 states. Of the

37 countries with binding commitments, 7 have ratified.

Negotiations were held in the framework of the yearly UNFCCC Climate Change

Conferences on measures to be taken after the second commitment period ends in 2020.

This resulted in the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement, which is a separate instrument

under the UNFCCC rather than an amendment of the Kyoto Protocol.

19. The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect

human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury

and mercury compounds. This Convention was a result of three years of meeting and
negotiating, after which the text of the Convention was approved by delegates representing

close to 140 countries on 19 January 2013 in Geneva and adopted and signed later that year

on 10 October 2013 at a Diplomatic Conference held in Kumamoto, Japan. The Convention

is named after the Japanese city Minamata. This naming is of symbolic importance as the

city went through a devastating incident of mercury poisoning. It is expected that over the

next few decades, this international agreement will enhance the reduction of mercury

pollution from the targeted activities responsible for the major release of mercury to the

immediate environment.

The objective of the Minamata Convention is to protect the human health and the

environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury

compounds. It contains, in support of this objective, provisions that relate to the entire life

cycle of mercury, including controls and reductions across a range of products, processes

and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted. The treaty also addresses the

direct mining of mercury, its export and import, its safe storage and its disposal once as

waste. Pinpointing populations at risk, boosting medical care and better training of health-

care professionals in identifying and treating mercury-related effects will also result from

implementing the Convention.

The Minamata Convention provides controls over a myriad of products containing

mercury, the manufacture, import and export of which will be altogether prohibited by

2020, except where countries have requested an exemption for an initial 5-year period.

These products include certain types of batteries, compact fluorescent lamps, relays, soaps

and cosmetics, thermometers, and blood pressure devices. Dental fillings which use
 mercury amalgam are also regulated under the Convention, and their use must be phased

down through a number of measures.

20. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international

environmental treaty, signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate

or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Key elements of

the Convention include the requirement that developed countries provide new and

additional financial resources and measures to eliminate production and use of intentionally

produced POPs, eliminate unintentionally produced POPs where feasible, and manage and

dispose of POPs wastes in an environmentally sound manner. Precaution is exercised

throughout the Stockholm Convention, with specific references in the preamble, the

objective, and the provision on identifying new POPs.

Reference:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_environmental_agreements