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Environmental Conventions and Protocols Notes

Year of
Convention Purpose Remarks
establishment
· Known as Waterfowl convention.
for the
conservation
· India is part of it.
Ramsar and sustainable
1971
Convention
· There are currently 27 Ramsar sites
utilization of
wetlands
· in India
International
Stockholm
1972 protection of the · UNEP was the result of it.
Declaration
environment
Control or
Convention on
prevent
International
international
Trade in
commercial
Endangered · Known as Washington Convention
trade in
species of 1973
endangered
Wild flora · Legally binding
species or
and fauna
products derived
(CITES)
from them.
Convention on
Convention on the · Also known as the Bonn Convention
Migratory Conservation of
1979
Species Migratory · It is under the aegis of United
(CMS) Species of Wild Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Animals
for achieving
Nairobi
1982 sustainable · 10th anniversary of Stockholm)
Declaration
developments
for the · It does not include legally
Vienna
1985 protection of the
convention
ozone layer binding reduction goals
· It is a protocol to the Vienna
Convention for the Protection of Ozone
Layer
To control
Montreal
1987 Ozone-depleting · Universal treaty (Ratified by all UN
Protocol
Substances countries)

· Legally binding

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· Target only ozone depleting

substances (Not GHG i.e. Hydro
Fluorocarbons)
Brundtland Sustainable · gave the concept of "sustainable
1987
Report Development development"
Earth Summit/
United
· It had 27 principles
Nations
Conference on
Environment · Three legally binding agreements
Environment
1992 conservation & were opened for signature:
and
Development (i) CBD
Development
(ii) UNFCC
(UNCED)/
(iii) UNCCD
Rio
Declaration
· It is a product of Earth Summit,
1992
Sustainable
Agenda 21 1992 · Agenda 21 refers to the 21st
Development
Century.

· Non-binding
· Environmental treaty produced at
the Earth Summit, 1992.
Reducing
greenhouse gas · Secretariat: Bonn, Germany
UNFCCC 1992 emissions to
combat global · legally non-binding
warming.
· Kyoto Protocol was negotiated
under this framework.
Three main
goals:

1. Conservation
of biological · Legally binding
diversity (or
biodiversity); · USA has signed but not ratified
Convention on
Biological
1992 2. Sustainable · The two protocols to CBD are:
Diversity
use of its (a) Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,
(CBD)
components; 2000
(b) Nagoya Protocol (Biodiversity
3. Sharing the Accord), 2010
benefits of
genetic
resources fairly
and equitably

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· Headquarter: Bonn, Germany

· Only convention that came out from

Convention to direct recommendations
UNCCD 1994 Combat of Rio Agenda 21
Desertification
· Legally Binding

· Canada withdrew
· Negotiated under UNFCC

· Came into force in 2005

· Binding targets to Annex I countries

· Mechanisms under protocol:

(a) Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM)
(b) Emission Trading
(c) Joint Implementation (JI)

· This protocol applies to follow

GHGs (Annex A):
(a) Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
(b) Methane (CH4)
to fight global
(c) Nitrous Oxide (NO2)
warming by
(d) Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6)
Kyoto reducing
(e) Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
Protocol (COP 1997 greenhouse
(f) Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
3)
gas
· The Protocol is based on the
concentrations
principle of shared (Common) but
differentiated responsibilities.

· It places the obligation on developed

countries to reduce current emissions on
the basis that they are historically
responsible for the current levels of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

· Annex I countries: industrialized

countries and economies in transition

· Annex II countries: developed

countries which pay for costs of
developing countries

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· Non-Annex I countries: Developing

countries

· India is Non-Annex party to

UNFCC.

· There are two commitment periods

(i) 2008 – 2012
(ii) 2013 – 2020

Note: The second commitment period was

agreed on in 2012, known as the Doha
Amendment to the protocol.
Prior Informed
Consent
Procedure for
Certain
Rotterdam Hazardous
1998 · UN Treaty
Convention
Chemicals and
Pesticides in
International
Trade
· Protecting biological diversity from
Cartagena potential risks posed by living modified
2000 Biosafety
Protocol organisms resulting from modern
biotechnology.
· UN Treaty

· US is not a party to this treaty

Eliminate or
restrict the
· Intergovernmental Forum on
Stockholm production and
2001 Chemical Safety (IFCS) and the
Convention use of persistent
International Programme for Chemical
organic
Safety
pollutants
(IPCS) prepared a list, known as the Dirty
Dozen.
· Negotiated under UNFCC since
Reducing 2005.
emissions from
deforestation · UN-REDD was launched in 2008.
REDD &
2005 and forest India did not participate in it.
REDD+
degradation in
developing · REDDD+ (Defined in Bali Action
countries Plan, 2007, CoP13)

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· REDD+ extends to
(a) Sustainable Forest Management
(b) Conservation of Forests
(c) Enhancement of carbon sinks
Access to
genetic
resources and a
fair and
equitable
Nagoya · It is a supplementary agreement to
2010 sharing of
Protocol the CBD.
benefits arising
from their use of
the Convention
on Biological
Diversity
Conference on
· 20th Anniversary of Rio Earth
Rio+20 2012 Sustainable
Summit 1992.
Development
· It will come into force by 2020.

· Not legally binding.

Aims

• This century, global temperature

rises well below 2 degrees Celsius
above circa-industrial level.
• Pursue efforts to limit the
temperature upsurge even further
to 5 degrees Celsius.
Paris
Indian NDCs
Agreement 2015 Climate Change
(COP 21)
· Greenhouse gas emissions per unit
of GDP- by 33 to 35 per cent below 2005
levels by the year 2030.

· By 2030, 40 percent of its energy

would be generated from non-fossil fuels.

· Increase its forest cover to create an

additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to
3 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2030.

Note: Recently the US has withdrawn

from it.

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· It amends the 1987 Montreal

Protocol.

· Its aims to reduce

Kigali Reduce Ozone
2016 Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by roughly
Amendment Layer Depletion
80-85 Percent by late 2045.

· It will be binding on member

countries from 2019.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC)
• Established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the UN
Environment Programme, the IPCC surveys world-wide scientific and technical
literature and publishes assessment reports that are widely recognized as the most
credible existing sources of information on climate change.
• The IPCC also works on methodologies and responds to specific requests from
the Convention’s subsidiary bodies. The IPCC is independent of the Convention

Rio Conventions
• Three environmental conventions,
two of which were adopted at the 1992 “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro:
1.... The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC),
2.... The Convention on Biodiversity (CBD),

while the third----------------------------

the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), was adopted
in 1994.
• The issues addressed by the three treaties are related
-- in particular, climate change can have adverse effects
on desertification and biodiversity -- and through a
Joint Liaison Group, the secretariats of the three conventions take steps to
coordinate activities to achieve
common progress.

Rio+20
• The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, on June 4-6, 2012.
• The first UN Conference on Sustainable Development
was the “Earth Summit”, held in 1992, and it spawned the three
“ “Rio Conventions”-- the UNFCCC, the UNCCD, and the UNCBD.