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AGENDA 21
THE RIO DECLARATION  
                                         Distr.  
                                         GENERAL  
                                         A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. I)  
                                         12 August 1992  
                                         ORIGINAL:  ENGLISH  
  
             REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON   
                    ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT*  
                  (Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)  
                               Annex I  
  
           RIO DECLARATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT  
  
  
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,  
 
Having met at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992,  
  
Reaffirming the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human 
Environment, adopted at Stockholm on 16 June 1972, a/ and seeking to build
upon it,  
  
With the goal of establishing a new and equitable global partnership  
through the creation of new levels of cooperation among States, key sectors
of societies and people,  
  
Working towards international agreements which respect the interests of  
all and protect the integrity of the global environmental and developmental 
system,  
  
    Recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, our  
home,  
  
    Proclaims that:  
  
                             Principle 1  
  
    Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. 
 
They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. 

  
  
                             Principle 2  
  
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the 
principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own 
resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies,
and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction
or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of
areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.  
  
  
                             Principle 3  
  
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet  
developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.  
  
                             Principle 4  
  
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection  
shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be 
considered in isolation from it.  
  
                             Principle 5  
  
All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of  
eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable  
development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living
and better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the world.  
    
                             Principle 6  
  
The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the 
least developed and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given 
special priority.  International actions in the field of environment and  
development should also address the interests and needs of all countries. 
  
                             Principle 7  
  
States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve,  
protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem.  In
view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation,
States have common but differentiated responsibilities.  The developed
countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the
international pursuit of sustainable development in view of the pressures
their societies place on the global environment and of the technologies and
financial resources they command.  
    
                             Principle 8  
  
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all  
people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of
production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.  
    
                             Principle 9  
  
States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for  
sustainable development by improving scientific understanding through
exchanges of scientific and technological knowledge, and by enhancing the
development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including
new and innovative technologies.  
  
                            Principle 10  
  
    Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all  
concerned citizens, at the relevant level.  At the national level, each  
individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the  
environment that is held by public authorities, including information on  
hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the
opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.  States shall
facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making
information widely available.  Effective access to judicial and
administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be
provided.  
  
                            Principle 11  
  
States shall enact effective environmental legislation.  Environmental  
standards, management objectives and priorities should reflect the  
environmental and developmental context to which they apply.  Standards
applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted economic
and social cost to other countries, in particular developing countries.  
  
                            Principle 12  
  
States should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international  
economic system that would lead to economic growth and sustainable
development in all countries, to better address the problems of
environmental degradation.  Trade policy measures for environmental
purposes should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable
discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade. 
Unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the
jurisdiction of the importing country should be avoided.  Environmental
measures addressing transboundary or global environmental problems should,
as far as possible, be based on an international consensus.  
    
                            Principle 13  
  
States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation  
for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage.  States shall
also cooperate in an expeditious and more determined manner to develop
further international law regarding liability and compensation for adverse
effects of environmental damage caused by activities within their
jurisdiction or control to areas beyond their jurisdiction.  
  
                            Principle 14  
  
States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent the  
relocation and transfer to other States of any activities and substances
that cause severe environmental degradation or are found to be harmful to
human health.  
  
                            Principle 15  
  
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be  
widely applied by States according to their capabilities.  Where there are 
threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific
certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective
measures to prevent environmental degradation.
  
                            Principle 16  
  
National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of  
environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into
account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost
of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting 
international trade and investment.  
  
                            Principle 17  
  
Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be  
undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to have a significant  
adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a
competent national authority.  
  
                            Principle 18  
  
States shall immediately notify other States of any natural disasters or  
other emergencies that are likely to produce sudden harmful effects on the 
environment of those States.  Every effort shall be made by the
international community to help States so afflicted.  
  
                            Principle 19  
  
States shall provide prior and timely notification and relevant  
information to potentially affected States on activities that may have a  
significant adverse transboundary environmental effect and shall consult
with those States at an early stage and in good faith.  
  
                            Principle 20  
  
Women have a vital role in environmental management and development.   
Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable  
development.  
  
                            Principle 21  
  
The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world should be  
mobilized to forge a global partnership in order to achieve sustainable  
development and ensure a better future for all.    
  
                            Principle 22  
  
Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have  
a vital role in environmental management and development because of their 
knowledge and traditional practices.  States should recognize and duly
support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective
participation in the achievement of sustainable development.  
  
                            Principle 23  
  
The environment and natural resources of people under oppression,  
domination and occupation shall be protected.    
  
                            Principle 24  
  
Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development.  States  
shall therefore respect international law providing protection for the  
environment in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its further  
development, as necessary.  
  
                            Principle 25  
  
Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and  
indivisible.  
  
                            Principle 26  
  
States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by  
appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.  
  
                            Principle 27  
  
States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of  
partnership in the fulfilment of the principles embodied in this
Declaration and in the further development of international law in the
field of sustainable development.  
  
  
* * * * *  
    a/    Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment,
Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972 (United Nations publication, Sales No.
E.73.II.A.14 and corrigendum), chap. I.  
===========================================RRojas Research Unit/1996====
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   Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992)

   Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

   UNDP: Growth as a means for development (1996)