Principle 1
Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and
adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life
of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and
improve the environment for present and future generations. In this respect,
policies promoting or perpetuating apartheid, racial segregation,
discrimination, colonial and other forms of oppression and foreign domination
stand condemned and must be eliminated.
Principle 2
The natural resources of the earth, including the air,
water, land, flora and fauna and especially representative samples of natural
ecosystems, must be safeguarded for the benefit of present and future
generations through careful planning or management, as appropriate.
Principle 3
The capacity of the earth to produce vital renewable
resources must be maintained and, wherever practicable, restored.
Principle 4
Man has special responsibility to safeguard and wisely
manage the heritage of wildlife and its habitat which are now gravely imperilled
by a combination of adverse factors. Nature conservation, including wildlife,
must therefore receive importance in planning for economic development.
Principle 5
The non-renewable resources of the earth must be employed
in such a way as to guard against the danger of their future exhaustion and to
ensure that benefits from such employment are shared by all mankind.
Principle 6
The discharge of toxic substances or of other substances
and the release of heat, in such quantities or concentrations as to exceed the
capacity of the environment to render them harmless, must be halted in order to
ensure that serious or irreversible damage is not inflicted upon ecosystems. The
just struggle of the peoples of all countries against pollution should be
supported.
Principle 7
States shall take all possible steps to prevent pollution
of the seas by substances that are liable to create hazards to human health, to
harm living resources and marine life; to damage amenities or to interfere with
other legitimate uses of the sea.
Principle 8
Economic and social development is essential for ensuring
a favourable living and working environment for man and for creating conditions
on earth that are necessary for the improvement of the quality of life.
Principle 9
Environmental deficiencies generated by the conditions of
under-development and natural disasters pose grave problems and can best be
remedied by accelerated development through the transfer of substantial
quantities of financial and technological assistance as a supplement to the
domestic effort of the developing countries and such timely assistance as may be
required.
Principle 10
For the developing countries, stability of prices and
adequate earnings for primary commodities and raw materials are essential to
environmental management since economic factors as well as ecological processes
must be taken into account.
Principle 11
The environmental policies of all States should enhance
and not adversely affect the present or future development potential of
developing countries, nor should they hamper the attainment of better living
conditions for all, and appropriate steps should be taken by States and
international organizations with a view to reaching agreement on meeting the
possible national and international economic consequences resulting from the
application of environmental measures.
Principle 12
Resources should be made available to preserve and
improve the environment, taking into account the circumstances and particular
requirements of developing countries and costs which may emanate from their
incorporating environmental safeguards into their development planning and the
need for making available to them, upon their request, additional international
technical and financial assistance for this purpose.
Principle 13
In order to achieve a more rational management of
resources and thus to improve the environment, States should adopt an integrated
and coordinated approach to their development planning so as to ensure that
development is compatible with the need to protect and improve the human
environment for the benefit of their population.
Principle 14
Rational planning constitutes an essential tool for
reconciling any conflict between the needs of development and the need to
protect and improve the environment.
Principle 15
Planning must be applied to human settlements and
urbanization with a view to avoiding adverse effects on the environment and
obtaining maximum social, economic and environmental benefits for all. In this
respect, projects which are designed for colonialist and racist domination must
be abandoned.
Principle 16
Demographic policies which are without prejudice to basic
human rights and which are deemed appropriate by Governments concerned should be
applied in those regions where the rate of population growth or excessive
population concentrations are likely to have adverse effects on the environment
or development, or where low population densitiy may prevent improvement of the
human environment and impede development.
Principle 17
Appropriate national institutions must be entrusted with
the task of planning, managing or controlling the environmental resources of
States with the view of enhancing environmental quality.
Principle 18
Science and technology, as part of their contribution to
economic and social development, must be applied to the identification,
avoidance and control of environmental risks and the solution of environmental
problems and for the common good of mankind.
Principle 19
Education in environmental matters, for the younger
generation as well as adults, giving due consideration to the underprivileged,
is essential in order to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and
responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises and communities in protecting
and improving environment in its full human dimensions. It is also essential
that mass media of communication avoid contributing to the deterioration of the
environment, but, on the contrary, disseminate information of an educational
nature, on the need to protect and improve the environment in order to enable
man to develop in every respect.
Principle 20
Scientific research and development in the context of
environmental problems, both national and multinational, must be promoted in all
countries, especially the developing countries. In this connexion, the free flow
of up-to-date scientific information and transfer of experience must be
supported and assisted, to facilitate the solution of environmental problems;
environmental technologies should be made available to developing countries on
terms which would encourage their wide dissemination without constituting an
economic burden on the developing countries.
Principle 21
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 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 22
States shall co-operate to develop further the
international law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of
pollution and other environmental damage caused by activities within the
jurisdiction or control of such States to areas beyond their jurisdiction.
Principle 23
Without prejudice to such criteria as may be agreed upon
by the international community, or to standards which will have to be determined
nationally, it will be essential in all cases to consider the systems of values
prevailing in each country, and the extent of the applicability of standards
which are valid for the most advanced countries but which may be inappropriate
and of unwarranted social cost for the developing countries.
Principle 24
International matters concerning the protection and
improvement of the environment should be handled in a co-operative spirit by all
countries, big or small, on an equal footing. Co-operation through multilateral
or bilateral arrangements or other appropriate means is essential to effectively
control, prevent, reduce and eliminate adverse environmental effects resulting
from activities conducted in all spheres, in such a way that due account is
taken of the sovereignty and interests of all States.
Principle 25
States shall ensure that international organizations play
a co-ordinated, efficient and dynamic role for the protection and improvement of
the environment.
Principle 26
Man and his environment must be spared the effects of
nuclear weapons and all other means of mass destruction. States must strive to
reach prompt agreement, in the relevant international organs, on the elimination
and complete destruction of such weapons.