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, 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 to 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 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 development 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.
Source:
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. |