Quick Fact Sheets : Some Important International Environment Treaties

ACCOBAMS

• Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area .
• ACCOBAMS is a cooperative agreement for the conservation of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution

• It is an environmental agreement signed in 2002 between all ASEAN nations to reduce haze pollution in Southeast Asia.
• As of June 2007, eight countries Viz.Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam , Myanmar , Viet Nam , Thailand , Lao PDR , Cambodia have ratified the agreement.

Aarhus Convention:

• Aarhus Convention, was signed on June 25, 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus.
• As of July 2009, it had been signed by 40 (primarily European and Central Asian) countries and the European Community and ratified by 41 countries.

Bali Communiqué

• On 30 November 2007, the business leaders of 150 global companies published a communiqué at Bali Indonesia to world leaders calling for a comprehensive, legally binding United Nations framework to tackle climate change.
• It is a comprehensive, legally binding United Nations framework to tackle climate change emission reduction targets to be guided primarily by science those countries that have already industrialised to make the greatest effort world leaders to seize the window of opportunity and agree on a work plan of negotiations to ensure an agreement can come into force after 2012 (when the existing Kyoto Protocol expires)

Basel Convention:

• The Basel Convention is Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.
• Its an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs) (except radioactive waste)
• The Convention was opened for signature on 22 March 1989, and entered into force on 5 May 1992.

Bonn Convention:

• Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
• To conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range was the onjective of this convention.
• It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale.
• The Convention was signed in 1979 in Bonn (hence the name) and entered into force in 1983.

CITES or Washington Convention

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or Washington Convention is an international agreement between governments, drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1973 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival and it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 33,000 species of animals and plants.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) or Biodiversity Convention, is an international legally binding treaty that was adopted in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
• The Convention was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993.

ENMOD

• The Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD) is an international treaty prohibiting the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques.
• It opened for signature on 18 May 1977 in Geneva and entered into force on October 5, 1978.

Kyoto Protocol

• The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• It is an international environmental treaty with the goal of achieving “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
• The Kyoto Protocol establishes legally binding commitment for the reduction of four greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride), and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons).
• It was initially adopted for use on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and entered into force on 16 February 2005.
• As of February 2009 183 parties (nations) have ratified the protocol.
• Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries agreed to reduce their collective green house gas (GHG) emissions by 5.2% from the level in 1990.
• National limitations range from the reduction of 8% for the European Union and others to 7% for the United States, 6% for Japan, and 0% for Russia.
• The treaty permitted the emission increases of 8% for Australia and 10% for Iceland.
• Participation in the Kyoto Protocol, where dark green indicates countries that have signed and ratified the treaty, yellow is signed, but not yet ratified, grey is not yet decided and red is no intention of ratifying.
• Kyoto includes defined “flexible mechanisms” such as
  Emissions Trading,
  Clean Development Mechanism
  Joint Implementation

Montreal Protocol:

• The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
• It is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.
• The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987 and entered into force on January 1, 1989 followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989.
• Since then, it has undergone seven revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing).
• It is believed that if the international agreement is adhered to, the ozone layer is expected to recover by 2050.
• Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation with Kofi Annan quoted as saying that “perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol”

Sydney Declaration:

• The Sydney APEC Leaders’ Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development was adopted at APEC Australia 2007 on 8 September 2007.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

• The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.
• It was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994 and entered into force in December 1996.
• It is the first and only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of desertification.
• The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership and decentralization – the backbone of Good Governance and Sustainable Development.
• It now has 193 country Parties to the Convention, making it truly global in reach.
• To help publicise the Convention, 2006 had been declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.
• The treaty is aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
• It entered into force on March 21, 1994.
• Its stated objective is to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a low enough level to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
• One of its first achievements was to establish a national greenhouse gas inventory, as a count of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals.
• Accounts must be regularly submitted by signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• The UNFCCC is also the name of the United Nations Secretariat charged with supporting the operation of the Convention, with offices in Haus Carstanjen, Bonn, Germany.
• Since 2006 the head of the secretariat has been Yvo de Boer.

Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

• The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a multilateral environmental agreement.
• It was agreed upon at the Vienna Conference of 1985 and entered into force in 1988.
• It acts as a framework for the international efforts to protect the ozone layer.
• However, it does not include legally binding reduction goals for the use of CFCs (Choloro-Fluoro Carbons) the main chemical agents causing ozone depletion which are laid out in the accompanying Montreal Protocol.