Environment Quiz: International Environmental Conventions | Dec 1,2020

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
The issues addressed included:
•Systematic scrutiny of patterns of production — particularly the production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals.
•Alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate change.
•New reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health problems caused by polluted air and smog.
•The growing scarcity of water.
Source: Shankar page no: 325

The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents:
•Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
•Agenda 21
•Forest Principles
Source: Shankar page no: 325

The Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety is an additional agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
•The Protocol establishes procedures for regulating the import and export of LMOs from one country to another.
•The Protocol also requires Parties to ensure that LMOs being shipped from one country to another are handled, packaged and transported in a safe manner.
Source: Shankar page no: 327

The Nagoya Protocol addresses traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources with provisions on access, benefit-sharing and compliance.
•It also addresses genetic resources where indigenous and local communities have the established right to grant access to them.
•Contracting Parties are to take measures to ensure these communities’ prior informed consent, and fair and equitable benefit-sharing, keeping in mind community laws and procedures as well as customary use and exchange.
Source: Shankar page no: 328

The Convention on Wetlands [waterfowl convention] is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
•It was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975, and it is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem.
•Ramsar is not affiliated with the United Nations system of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, but it works very closely with the other MEAs and is a full partner among the “biodiversity-related cluster” of treaties and agreements.
Source: Shankar page no: 330

The Changwon Declaration on human well-being and wetlands highlights positive action for ensuring human well-being and security in the future under the themes – water, climate change, people’s livelihood and health, land use change, and biodiversity.
Source: Shankar page no: 331

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between governments entered into force in 1975, and became the only treaty to ensure that international trade in plants and animals does not threaten their survival in the wild.
•Currently 176 countries are Parties to CITES.
•CITES is administered through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
•A Secretariat, located in Geneva, Switzerland, oversees the implementation of the treaty and assists with communications between countries.
Source: Shankar page no: 332

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range.
It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale.
Source: Shankar page no: 333

IUCN was founded in October 1948 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (or IUPN) following an international conference in Fontainebleau, France.
The organization changed its name to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1956 with the acronym IUCN (or UICN) with its head quarters in Gland, Switzerland.
Priority Areas of IUCN:
•Biodiversity
•Climate change
•Sustainable energy
•Human well-being
•Green economy
Source: Shankar page no: 335

Established in 1994, UNCCD is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
•The UNCCD is particularly committed to a bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in combating desertification and land degradation.
•The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is one of the Rio Conventions that focuses on desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD).
Source: Shankar page no: 338