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U.S. Department of State
95/06/09 Fact Sheet: Global Environmental Issues
Bureau of Public Affairs
Fact Sheet: Global Environmental Issues
The environmental challenges confronting the world today are greater
than at any time in recent history. Threats to the global environment--
such as climate change; stratospheric ozone depletion; and the loss of
biological diversity, forests, and fish stocks--affect all nations
regardless of their level of development. As a result, the environment
is an increasingly important part of the foreign policy agenda. The
United States accords high priority to addressing global environmental
problems and is pursuing a wide-ranging agenda of action to protect the
environment and promote the goal of sustainable development.
UN Conference on Environment and Development
The June 1992 UNCED was a landmark event in addressing the global
environment. Unlike other environmental conferences, UNCED focused on
"sustainable development," i.e. economic growth that takes into account
environmental concerns. UNCED resulted in the adoption of three key
documents:
-- Agenda 21--an action program to guide national and international
environmental and development efforts into the 21st century;
-- The Rio Declaration--a statement of principles regarding the
environment and development; and
-- A statement of principles for the conservation and sustainable use of
forests worldwide.
Based on UNCED's recommendation, the United Nations has established a
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to monitor implementation of
Agenda 21 recommendations. The U.S. strongly supports the CSD as a
primary international body for promoting sustainable development
worldwide. The CSD will next convene in early 1996 to review progress
on the ocean environment. It meets annually to pursue follow-up to the
Rio Conference; in April 1995, it reviewed forest issues.
The United States works domestically to implement the recommendations
made at the Rio Conference. On June 14, 1993, President Clinton
announced the formation of the President's Council on Sustainable
Development (PSCD), which now is developing policy recommendations for a
national strategy for sustainable development that can be implemented by
the public and private sectors. The PSCD represents a ground-breaking
commitment to explore and develop policies that encourage economic
growth, job creation, and effective use of natural resources.
In addition to the treaties on biodiversity and climate change, UNCED
also endorsed a convention to combat desertification. In October 1995,
the U.S. signed a new UN Convention on Desertification, which promotes
international cooperation on the sustainable use of fragile, dry-land
ecosystems, particularly in Africa. It also addresses one of the root
causes of African poverty and hunger. The convention is being prepared
to be submitted to the Senate for ratification.
Global Climate Change
That human activities may cause climate change is a serious
international environmental concern. The United States has led the
effort in response to this threat. Negotiations on a Framework
Convention on Climate Change--which began near Washington DC, in early
1991--culminated in an agreement that received more than 150 signatures
at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de
Janeiro in June 1992; the convention entered into force March 21, 1994.
The climate change convention establishes a process to deal meaningfully
with this issue. Industrialized countries are developing specific action
plans to limit emissions of greenhouse gases and enhance forests and
other greenhouse gas "sinks." Other countries are to take similar
actions in the future. President Clinton announced in April 1993 that
the U.S. intends to return its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels
by the year 2000. In October 1993, the President presented a National
Climate Change Action Plan, containing nearly 50 domestic measures
designed to meet the U.S. commitment.
In September 1994, the United States made its national submission, the
U.S. Climate Change Report, which details U.S. actions to address the
threat of global climate change. It includes the U.S. Initiative on
Joint Implementation (USIJI) which promotes cooperation between
countries on projects that will reduce or sequester greenhouse gas
emissions. The first seven projects for inclusion in the initiative were
announced in February 1995. Partner countries include Costa Rica,
Honduras, Belize, the Czech Republic, and Russia. The United States
expects to announce another round of projects in the near future.
In fiscal years 1994 and 1995, the United States offered $30 million in
financial support and technical assistance to assist developing
countries and countries in transition to market economies in
establishing analytical foundations for addressing the threat of climate
change. Eligible efforts included inventories of greenhouse gas
emissions, vulnerability studies, and analyses of options to address
vulnerabilities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The United States
is now working with more than 50 countries on such studies.
The First Conference of the Parties to review the climate change
convention was held in Berlin, Germany, March 28-April 7, 1995. The
participants secured a mandate to negotiate "next steps" for the post-
2000 era by 1997 as well as to begin a pilot phase for "joint
implementation" projects. The United States hopes that the USIJI and
similar programs will assist in the development of international
criteria for the partnership projects needed to reduce worldwide
greenhouse gas emissions.
Protection of the Ozone Layer
The depletion of the ozone layer continues to be a serious problem. The
United States has led efforts to address this threat, beginning with a
decision in 1978 to ban the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in non-
essential aerosols. The U.S. urged the conclusion of an agreement to
restrict the use of CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances in all
countries.
This effort has led to a succession of landmark international agreements
since 1985 designed to protect the ozone layer, including the 1985
Vienna Convention and the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Countries will
completely phase out the production of CFCs and most other ozone-
depleting substances by the end of 1996. The U.S. has met its
commitments to phase out halons by the end of 1994 and continues toward
meeting phase-out targets for CFCs and allied substances by January 1,
1996.
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity
A central objective of U.S. environmental policy is the preservation and
sustainable use of natural resources, pursued through a combination of
bilateral and multilateral activities.
The United States is party to the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which enables the
122 CITES signatories to monitor and control international trade in wild
species. CITES was crucial in efforts by the U.S. and other countries to
protect the African elephant by banning trade in elephant ivory, and it
is now involved in efforts to protect the rhino and tiger. The Ninth
CITES Conference of Parties was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
November 7-18, 1994.
While CITES has been effective in protecting species that are threatened
as a direct result of international trade, the main cause of species
loss is habitat destruction. The U.S. seeks to address this issue
through a variety of means, such as increased funding for forest
conservation programs, the establishment of protected areas under the
World Heritage Convention and other agreements, and through the Ramsar
Treaty on International Wetlands.
On June 4, 1993, the United States signed the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity, which establishes a framework for countries to
cooperate on protecting the earth's species. The convention presents a
unique opportunity for nations not only to conserve the world's
biological diversity, but also to realize economic benefits from the
conservation and sustainable use of its genetic resources. The treaty is
now before the U.S. Senate for ratification.
The U.S. is promoting sustainable use of the world's forest resources
through the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, which, in April
1995, established an intergovernmental panel to explore more efficient,
better coordinated international programs. The U.S. Government and non-
governmental organizations are cooperating to help preserve threatened
biodiversity-rich forests in countries such as Suriname and Papua New
Guinea, and on a regional basis in Central Africa and the Amazon.
The U.S. also has launched a new international partnership--the
International Coral Reef Initiative--to promote the protection,
sustainable management, and monitoring of coral reefs and related
ecosystems, such as mangroves and sea grasses. U.S. partners in this new
undertaking include Japan, Australia, Jamaica, the United Kingdom,
France, and the Philippines.
Population and Environment
During the 1990s, world population growth will increase between 90 and
100 million people annually. Unaddressed, global population will almost
certainly double and could triple before the end of the next century.
The implications of such growth for global economic, political, social,
and environmental security are profound.
The third UN International Conference on Population and Development
convened in Cairo, Egypt, September 5-13, 1994. This conference provided
a once-in-a-decade opportunity to marshal resources behind a
comprehensive global effort to stem rapid population growth. The U.S.
worked with its international partners to develop comprehensive
programs, which include addressing the unmet need and demand for family
planning and reproductive health services; developing strategies for
improving women's health needs and improving child survival; improving
the social, economic, and political status of women; and mobilizing
institutional and financial resources to meet these goals. All these
initiatives influence population growth and are most effective when
pursued together; efforts in this regard will continue.
Financing Environmental Protection
The United States supports effective use of resources and institutions
to promote the goals of sustainable development and environmental
protection. It has long been a leader among bilateral donors in
supporting environmental programs abroad and ensuring that environmental
considerations are taken into account in assistance programs. The U.S.
foreign assistance budget emphasizes sustainable development, including
programs for ameliorating natural resource degradation; protecting
water, air, and land from pollution; and making progress toward
environmental conservation, among others.
Multilateral institutions remain essential to efforts to promote
economic reforms and development in a rapidly changing world; they also
are important instruments to promote sustainable development and
environmental protection. The United States helps ensure that the
multilateral development banks take environmental considerations into
account in all their lending programs. The U.S. also strongly supported
creation of the Global Environmental Facility, which helps fund projects
that provide global environmental benefits, such as those related to
climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
Marine Conservation and Pollution
The world's oceans are threatened by human activities such as
unsustainable resource use and pollution. The United States long has
played an active role in ocean conservation program--from its efforts
early in the 1980s to protect whales to a UN-sponsored moratorium in
1992 on the destructive practice of driftnet fishing. The collapse of
several valuable fisheries, concern about the continued sustainability
of fully and over-exploited fisheries, and the development of new
fisheries have brought special attention to international fisheries
matters and point to the need for new mechanisms of international
cooperation.
Overall, the U.S. leads international efforts to better conserve and
manage important living marine resources through global cooperation. It
is a leading proponent of two major international agreements to address
marine pollution: the Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships, which regulates discharges of harmful substances during the
normal operation of ships at sea; and the London Convention, which bans
the ocean disposal of a number of wastes and lists others that may be
disposed of only with special care.
The United States promotes efforts to address pollution from land-based
sources--the most serious threat to the marine environment. UNCED
delegates adopted a U.S. proposal calling for an intergovernmental
conference--which will be hosted by the United States in Washington, DC,
in October 1995--to consider effective ways to deal with this threat.
As a result of the 1980s focus on the adverse impacts of large-scale
pelagic driftnet fishing, the UN General Assembly, in 1990, adopted a
resolution calling for a global moratorium on the use of large-scale
driftnets on the high seas. The United States attaches great importance
to continued compliance with this resolution and continues to encourage
all nations to take measures to prohibit their nationals and vessels
from undertaking any activity contrary to the terms of the resolution.
Through U.S. leadership and international cooperation, the incidental
take of dolphins in the eastern Pacific Ocean's tuna fishery area has
been reduced to its lowest levels. The United States also is
participating in multilateral negotiations toward concluding a Western
Hemisphere Sea Turtle Protection and Conservation Convention.
Since 1993, the United States has participated in the UN Conference on
Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks--an outcome of
UNCED, which called for a global conference to promote effective imple-
mentation of the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the
Sea on fish stocks.
To date, the conference has completed four substantive sessions and
hopes to complete its work in August 1995. More than 80 nations are
participating.
In addition, the United States is engaged in efforts through the UN Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to improve international fishery
conservation and management. The U.S., FAO, and other countries are
preparing an international code of conduct for responsible fishing,
which will provide principles and standards applicable to the
conservation, management, and development of all fisheries. The code
will address such issues as fishing operations, aquaculture, habitat,
fisheries research, and the integration of fisheries into coastal area
management plans. (###)
[Box]
The Environment and G-7
Environment has been a key issue for the G-7 since the 1989 Paris
Summit. The Halifax Summit should reinforce efforts that have been made
over the past few years to implement the Rio Earth Summit's blueprint
for sustainable development--as Agenda 21--and will show support for the
conventions on climate change, biodiversity, and the CSD process on
forests.
Climate Change. The United States will encourage all developed countries
to meet their commitments to return greenhouse gas emissions to their
1990 levels by the year 2000 and to consider what measures should be
taken with regard to greenhouse gas emissions in the post-2000 period.
Biodiversity. The U.S. works through a wide range of multilateral and
bilateral mechanisms to address arresting the rapid loss of species
worldwide. It is, however, the only G-7 country which has not ratified
the biodiversity convention--one of the major outcomes of the 1992 Earth
Summit.
Forests. The U.S. strongly supports efforts by the UN Commission on
Sustainable Development to develop proposals on the sustainable
management and conservation of forests through an "open-ended
intergovernmental panel on forests." This panel will provide proposals
for action on a range of priority areas. It will consider ways to
enhance international forest aid coordination and recommend a clearer
division of forest-related work among UN agencies. It also will examine
factors effecting trade in forest products and assess the need for
additional international agreements, possibly establishing a legally
binding forest convention.
On April 30 and May 1, 1995, G-7 environment ministers met in Hamilton,
Ontario. EPA Administrator Carol Browner and Under Secretary of State
for Global Affairs Timothy Wirth attended the meeting, together with
environment ministers from other G-7 countries. The meeting focused on
three themes:
-- International institutional arrangements for sustainable development
and environment issues;
-- Environment-economy integration with emphasis on "greening of
government operations;" and
-- Progress on major international environmental issues, including
those related to the conventions on climate change and biodiversity.
The institutional arrangements theme focused on CSD and UN Environment
Program (UNEP) mandates. It was agreed that the CSD should be the high-
level global forum at which broad policy directions and strategic goals
for sustainable development are set. UNEP was urged to reaffirm its
mandate as the environmental voice of the UN system, focusing on
science, environmental monitoring and assessment, catalyzing regional
responses to common environmental problems, and promoting the
development of international environment law.
Discussions also focused on the role of international financial
institutions (IFIs)--expressing the view that the G-7 should encourage
the World Bank and other IFIs to emphasize the quality, rather than
simply the quantity of loans, and to continue to progress toward
transparency and openness by making information available early in the
project evaluation process.
Environment-economy integration discussions focused on "greening"
government operations. Participants reviewed their domestic policies to
find common challenges related to greening government policy; for
example, removing unsound subsidies, using environmental assessments,
implementing green tax reform, and promoting job creation through
environmental technologies. Participants urged G-7 governments to take
the lead in making their operations and activities more environmentally
sustainable and sound through their procurement practices, energy use,
and building maintenance. The U.S. Government already is moving in this
direction through President Clinton's various executive orders regarding
the use of recycled products, alternative fuel vehicles, energy-
efficient and water-saving equipment, "green" computers, and the
reinventing government initiative.
Finally, the participants reviewed ongoing international efforts to
address issues related to climate change, biodiversity preservation, and
trade in wastes and toxic chemicals. All G-7 countries support action to
address global environmental concerns, although each country emphasizes
different issues.
June 9, 1995
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