EU Border Police
European Union leaders yesterday moved to establish an EU border
police force to patrol shores, ports and crossing points against illegal
immigrants. The dramatic attempt to strengthen "fortress Europe" could
mean foreign guards wearing an EU uniform patrolling in Britain.
The heads of government said that the moves were a stepping stone to
the creation of a fully fledged European-wide force which would act in
tandem with each nation’s police.
Source: news.telegraph.co.uk, June 23, 2002
G8 in Open Disarray Over Kyoto Protocol
The divisions between the world’s leading nations over the Kyoto
protocol on global warming deepened dramatically on Sunday, when an
informal discussion on climate change ended in disarray with both the
United States and Canada looking increasingly isolated.
Washington has been relentlessly attacked since abandoning Kyoto last
year but after environment ministers from the Group of Eight leading
nations ended their 45-minute meeting it was clear European leaders were
fast losing patience with Canada’s dithering over whether to ratify the
accord.
Source: Reuters.com, April 14, 2002
On the joint initiative of Environment Commissioner
Margot Wallström and Development Commissioner Poul Nielson, the European
Commission has adopted a Communication "Ten Years After Rio: Preparing for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002", setting out priorities and actions for the EU in preparation for this event.
In December 2000, the UN General Assembly decided to
hold the ten-year review of the Rio Conference on Environment and
Development as a World Summit in South Africa in 2002. In this
Communication, the Commission stresses the need to ensure an effective
EU contribution to this event. The forthcoming EU Sustainable
Development Strategy and the recently proposed 6th Environment Action Programme will be important European contributions.
The Communication includes an overall assessment of
progress since Rio. It indicates that, although some progress has been
achieved, the expectations raised by the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in
1992 have not been realised. On the basis of this assessment, four
strategic objectives are proposed:
-
Increased global equity and an effective global partnership for sustainable development;
-
Better integration of environment and development at the international level;
-
Adoption of environment and development targets to revitalise and provide focus to the Rio process; and
-
More effective action at national level with stronger international monitoring.
Source: The European Commission Press Release
Local Agenda 21 Campaign
In 1991, at the invitation of Secretariat for the UN Conference on
Environment and Development, ICLEI presented a draft of Chapter 28 of Agenda 21
including the mandate for all local authorities to prepare a "local
Agenda 21." The final version of Chapter 28 approved at the Earth Summit
stipulates that "by 1996 , most local authorities in each country
should have undertaken a consultative process with their population and
achieved a consensus on a local Agenda 21 for the(ir) communities."
Following the adoption of the LA21 at the Earth Summit, ICLEI began
organizing to ensure that this mandate would be used to advance
sustainable development. In particular, ICLEI was concerned that LA21
processes be truly participatory and that they result in new commitments
by municipalities and their communities to improve and extend urban
services in a sustainable way. To address these concerns, ICLEI
established a Local Agenda 21 Initiative with three elements.
An Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region
In 1996, the Prime Ministers of the Baltic Sea Region took the initiative to develop an Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region.
This was the start of the Baltic 21 process, and sustainable development
in the Baltic Sea Region – encompassing economic, social and
environmental aspects – is the objective of that process.
In 1998, the Foreign Ministers adopted the Agenda 21 for the Baltic
Sea Region, which includes agreed overall goals and sectoral goals and
an action programme for sustainable development.
The Baltic Sea Region is the first region in the world to adopt common goals for sustainable development.
Now the implementation of the Action Programme is in progress within
seven sectors: agriculture, energy, fisheries, forests, industry,
tourism, transport and spatial planning, and in spring 2000, an
additional sector – education – was entered to the Baltic 21 process.
Source: Baltic 21
Major Agreements
OVERRIDING ISSUES ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Agreements leading to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, including:
-"Our Common Future," The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development Report (Abstracts)
A/Res/42/186 of 11 December 1987(Abstract 1)
A/Res/42/187 of 11 December 1987 (Abstract 2)
- The Decision of the General Assembly to convene the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
A/RES/44/228-85 of 22 December 1989
Agreements taken by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, including:
- The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development>
- Agenda 21 -
Global Programme of Action on Sustainable Developmen>
-
Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests
-
Declaration of Barbados and the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States
-
Programme of Action adopted at the Special Session of the General
Assembly to Review the Implementation of Agenda 21 (Earth Summit+5)
Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972)
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
- UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
Decision-Making
Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context
Major Groups
The Bejing Declaration and Platform of Action
SOCIAL ISSUES
Health
WHO-policy Health for All in the 21st Century
Human Settlements
The Habitat Agenda and The Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements
Population
Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development (1994)
Poverty
The Report of the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995)
ECONOMIC ISSUES
Trade and environment
Final Act of the Uruguay Round and related agreements
- The Marrakesh Ministerial Decision on Trade and Environmen>
- WTO-document on the relationship between the provisions of the
multilateral trading system and measures for environmental purposes,
including those pursuant to multilateral environmental agreements
- Further WTO-documents on trade and environment
NATURAL RESOURCES ISSUES
Agriculture and Food Security
Rome Declaration on World Food Security and to the World Food Summit Plan of Action
World Declaration on Nutrition – Plan of Action for Nutrition
Atmosphere
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
The Montreal Protocol
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985)
Biological diversity
Convention on Biological Diversity
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
Further agreements under the CMS
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat
UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
Desertification
United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or
Desertification, Particularly in Africa
Hazardous waste management
Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
Bamako
Convention on the ban of the import into Africa and the control of
transboundary movement and management of hazardous wastes within Africa
(1991)
Nuclear Safety
Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management
Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage
Further conventions and legal instruments under the auspices of IAEA:
Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident
Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
Convention on Nuclear Safety
Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage
Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna
Convention and the Paris Convention
Oceans
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
IMO Conventions in the field of marine safety, preventing marine pollution
Regional Seas Action Plans
Source: UN Document
AGENDA 21
CONTENTS
* * * * *
* For section I (Social and economic dimensions),
see A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. I); for section III (Strengthening the role of
major groups) and section IV (Means of implementation), see
A.CONF/151/26 (Vol. III).
* For section II (Conservation and management of
resources for development), see A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II); for section III
(Strengthening the role of major groups) and section IV (Means of
implementation), see A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. III).
* For section I (Social and economic dimensions),
see A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. I); for section II (Conservation and management
of resources for development), see A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II).
Source: UN Document
Oceans: The Source of Life United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
One of the most important legal instruments of the 20th century, the
Convention made innovations in international treaty law. Conceived as a
“package deal” that recognized that all problems concerning ocean space
are closely interrelated and must be considered as a whole, it
established that the seabed and ocean floor beyond the limits of
national jurisdictions are the “common heritage of mankind,” whose use
and protection are the right and responsibility of all. In addition, it
called for the compulsory settlement of disputes; it set out the overall
legal framework for all activities in or on the oceans and seas; and it
provided detailed rules governing all uses of the oceans and defined
the rights and responsibilities of States [member countries].
The treaty covers these major topics:
* Limits of maritime zones (territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf)
* Rights of navigation, including through straits used for international navigation
* Peace and security on the oceans and seas
* Conservation and management of living marine resources
* Protection and preservation of the marine environment
* Scientific research
* Activities on the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdictions
* Procedures for settling disputes between States….
Additional information can be found on the following websites:
Oceans and the Law of the Sea: http://www.un.org/Depts/los
United Nations Atlas of the Oceans: http://www.oceansatlas.org
International Seabed Authority: http://www.isa.org.jm
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: http://www.itlos.org
Department of Public Information: http://www.un.org/events/los20
Commission on Sustainable Development: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/oceans
International Court of Justice: http://www.icj-cij.org/
International Maritime Organization: http://www.imo.org
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: http://www.fao.org/fi
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO: http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): http://www.unep.org/themes/marine/
UNEP Global Programme of Action: http://www.gpa.unep.org
UNEP Regional Seas Programme: http://www.unep.ch/seas
Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP): http://gesamp.imo.org
Source: United Nations, 2002
With regard to the poor, most underdeveloped countries can point to
failed World Bank projects as the beginning of their sorrows. If it was
not for all of the financial planning by the World Bank to get them to
build nuclear power plants, dams and other types of
high-capital-intensive schemes, they would not be straddled with
anywhere near the amount of debt which is choking them. If it were not
for the poor, the U.N. would not be able to float ideas for confiscation
of wealth….
Source: WorldNetDaily, March 26, 2002
Preparationsfor the [UN] International Conference on Financing for Development
Monterrey, Mexico, 18-22 March 2002
Many States have already criminalised certain acts
related to racist or xenophobic content. However, the dissemination of
such material through computer networks poses even greater challenges
for law enforcement. It was thus necessary to adopt a co-ordinated
approach which enables an effective domestic and international response,
based on common elements to be included in an additional Protocol to
the Convention.
Blair and Bush to plot war on Iraq
Tony Blair and the United States President George Bush are to hold a
specially convened summit in April to finalise details of military
action to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
Source: The Observer (UK, online), February 24, 2002
U.S. Debating Wider Assault on Colombia Rebels
Alarmed by signs of weapons traffic between Colombian rebels and the
Middle East, the Bush administration is weighing a proposal to declare
the destruction of leftist guerrillas in the South American country an
explicit goal of U.S. policy
Some senior officials are also pushing for the administration to
assert, for the first time, that the Colombian rebels are a specific
target of the worldwide U.S. war on terrorism, administration officials
said.
Source: Los Angeles Times (online), February 23, 2002
An addition to an international treaty could permit police to
cooperate more closely on intercepting and decrypting the communications
of suspected terrorists
The Council of Europe, which
includes nearly all European nations, is meeting this week to prepare
additions to a controversial “cybercrime” treaty that would cover
decoding terrorist messages. The United States, Canada and Japan are
non-voting members of the council.
Source: Wired, Feb. 20, 2002
Report: Clinton Diverted Billions From Pentagon to UN Peacekeeping
Accounting Office reveals that former President Clinton contributed over
$24 billion for U.N. peacekeeping missions around the world between
1995
and 2001, money that wasn’t officially credited to the U.S. account by the United Nations.
Source: CNSNews.com, February 12, 2002
World Social Forum for global equity, says activists
Activists at the second annual World Social Forum rejected the label
"anti," saying they were working for democracy and equitable
distribution of wealth.
"The enemy calls us ‘anti,’ they say we complain, we are the
anti-Forum, anti-globalization, while our movement, really, is globally
for democracy, equality, diversity, justice and quality of life," said
Lori Wallach, of the US watchdog group Public Citizen.
Source: Yahoo! News Singapore February 2 [2002]
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