264 ENVIRONMENTAL PULIUIES AND PRACTICES 6.2 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND PROGRAMMEs 6.2.1 Earth summit, UNCED Earth Summit is also termed as the United Nation Conference o vironment and Development (UNCED). It was held at Rio de Brazil from 3-14 June 1992 with an objective to reconcile the we economic development along with the burning issue of protect environment. It was the first largest international congregation with participation of 30000 members and 100 heads of the Tepresentatiy, states, In this conference, the concept of sustainable development was in troduced was the first time and it was taken as a strategy for the impendin development. The UNCED was given the onus to implement the concept of sustainable development and to be in the forefront to preserve the earth from environmental deterioration. Janein Orldwige ON of th ever hela The Declaration of the Conference on Human Environment was al made in the conference, which emphasised that every person deserves healthy and clean environment. In the conference an action plan was also presented along with 109 specific recommendations for improving the en- vironmental quality, which includes restraining the use of ozone depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbon CFCs. The documents agreed in the Earth Summit are: @ Agenda 21 @ Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Principals of Forest Management @ The Convention on Biological Diversity @ Global Warming Convention or United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Agenda 21 Agenda 21 is comprehensive plan for the national governments, local governments, intergovernmental agencies and NGOs for enabling them to work jointly for protection of the environment by implementing the much-desired concept of sustainable development. Agenda 21 contains following categories: t ¢ Social dimensions « Economic dimensions Conservation and management of the resources for developmen @ Strengthening the role of major groups involved in the developm@ activities @ Means of implementationENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 265 : largest product of UNCED which comprise of 40 chapter 300 pages and was the only document signed at UNCED to include the pee enda centred around environment and development issues. The arited Nations Commission on Sustainable Development is responsible tation of the Agenda 21. Agenda 21 pronounces all goals and for implemen’ pertaining to the social, environmental, financial, majorresources, riorities institutional and legal issues. ne Rio Declaration on Environment and Development he Rio Declaration on Environment and Development is also known as Rio Declaration, which are a set of principles that defines the rights and responsibilities of the nations for the environmental protection and sus- tainable development. The declaration laid down 27 comprehensive and non-binding principles for the environmental-friendly development. Itstates that the nations have the right to exploit the natural resource within the circumference of their boundaries if it does not lead to deterioration of the environment. The declaration also appealed to the national and local governments to develop and implement strategies for the preservation of the environment and the natural resources for the future generation. Statement of Principles of Forests The Statement of Principles of Forests aims at preserving the world’s ghastly disappearing tropical rainforests by embracing sustainable management of forests worldwide. It is a non-binding statement which recommends the nations to monitor and assess impact of the developmental activities on heir forest resources and adopt measurements to minimise the wanton destruction. 1 is the genda 2 Ze 33 ‘onvention of Biological Diversity he Convention of Biological Diversity is the first international treaty which ing issue of preserving biological diversity. This is abind- ig treaty which demands that the nations should manage the inventories f the plants and animals and also protect the endangered species. Over 180 countries signed the treaty which has following major goals: # Conservation of biodiversity . Sustainable use of the componen! # Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of the ts of the biodiversity biological resources200 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 6.2.2 Global Warming Convention or United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Global Warming Convention is also known as UNFCCC. It is a binding treaty demanding nations to reduce their emi n of the greenhouse gas. es (like methane, carbon dioxide etc.), which result in the global warming The targets set by the treaty came to a halt and the binding targets for the reduction of the emission and the targets set in UNFCCC were further established in the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which is majorly an amendment to the UNFCCC. Kyoto Protocol was again replaced by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015. Outcome Earth Summit covered every aspect of sustainable development along with the various legislations passed and the agreements made by the nations committing to become more sustainable in their future developmental activities. After the Earth Summit, many nations committed to adopt sus- tainable development concepts to protect the environment and preserve resources of the mother earth. These agreements are still followed by many nations andis influencing the political and business policies and resolutions. Disputes The Earth Summit faced disagreements between the poorer developing countries, on the one side and the prosperous developing countries, on the other. The poor South countries were hesitant to these environmental restrictions which would impede their much-needed economic growth. They were reluctant and demanded an increase in the Northern financial aid for environmentally sound growth. The developed nations were urg- ing for the sustainable development but the less developed nations were demanding for more development to assist their economies to become developed nations. The major argument at the Summit were concerned to issue like, the population growth, the consumption rates and finances. UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) that formed the version of the Framework Convention during its meeting in New York from 30 April to 9 May 1992. The UNFCCC was accepted on 9 May 1992, released for signature on 4 June 1992 and signed by 154 nations on June 1992, with endorsement of the committed parties (197 parties as December 2015). The Kyoto Protocol has been further approved by 192 the UNFCCC Parties and was adopted in December 1997, which aimed, emission of gases that result in global warming. reduce thean ne 267 , main objective of the UNFCCC is to “stabilize : greenhouse \- ntrations it the atmosphere at a level that would prevent ieee nthropogenic interference with the climate system” within a fixed ti s amework to facilitate sustainable development. ape The UNFCCC framework sets non-binding restrictions on distinct nations for greenhouse gas emissions and encompasses no implementation mecha- nisms. Although the treaty isnot legally binding, butit delivers opportunities for protocols that can be used to set legally binding emissions limits. The UNFCCC framework was adopted by the majority of the nations of the world. The UNFCCC Secretariat is located at Bonn in Germany. UNFCCC as Rio Convention The UNFCCC is also amongst Rio Convention and is one of the two that were opened for signatures at the ‘Rio Earth Summit’ in 1992. The other two Rio Conventions are the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification. These three are innately linked and aJoint Liaison Group was established up to enhance cooperation among the three Conventions. United Nations Climate Change Conference held in 2010 made an’agree- ment stating that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0°C (3.6°F) relative to the pre-industrial level. In 2012, the UNFCCC was mod- ified to Doha Amendment to encompass the period of 2013-2020 but did not enter into force till December 2015. Assessment To assess the progress of the convention the parties meet annually from 1995 in Conferences of the Parties (COP). Kyoto Protocol was established and recognized legally in 1997 which binds obligations for the developed nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the period during 2008 102012. The Framework Convention identifies the targets of the developed Parties which includes Annex I countries and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). They include 12 countries with ‘economies in transition’ from the Central and the Eastern Europe for stabilizing their greenhouse gas emissions. It was expected that Annex I countries will reduce their emission to 1990 level by the year 2000. One of the major tasks for the signatory nations set by the UNFCCC was to form national greenhouse gas records of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals, and these records were used to create the 1990 benchmark levels for accession of Annex I countries to the Kyoto Protocol and for the countries committed to reduce GHG emissions. Annex I countries were required to submit their updated inventories annually.268 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES A scientific body under the United Nations, which is known as the Inter- governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was constituted to outlinea vision of climate change to the world and its political and economic impact on the nations. Drawbacks The Convention recognizes constraints in reducing effect of the climate change in all the countries specially in the developing nations that do not have ample resources. The convention appeals for extraordinary efforts to ease the extents of the problem. In the preliminary years, mitigation was acknowledged for more consideration than adaptation, because countries wanted more certainty on impact and vulnerability to the climate change. After IPCC’s, Third Assessment Report was released, and parties agreed to establish funding arrangements for adaptation. The Adaptation Committee was set up under the Cancun Adaptation Framework as part of the Cancun Agreements and presently work on adaptation takes place under different Convention organizations.