|
|
|
|
  |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
Monitoring The UN > The UN and Sustainable Development Multilateral Environmental Conventions
There are three principal objectives to this section on Multilateral Environmental Conventions (MECs): provide basic information on each of the adopted MECs; present the position and role of Canada as well as some Canadian initiatives in the implementation of these MECs; and provide links to key sources for additional national and international information. Before reading about the individual MECs, the next section offers some background information to help you better understand what the Conventions are about. Indeed, MECs are products of international environmental law and can be quite complex. Their complexity however should not deter us from understanding their role and importance for the safeguard of our planet. To help you understand MECs, their role, their importance and how they work, here are some questions we have tried to answer for you. What are Multilateral Environmental Conventions (MECs)? Laws permeate society. They sometimes reflect societal norms, sometimes they shape them. Laws are generally defined as: “codes of conduct appropriate to the values of the community drafting and enforcing them.” (UNEP 1997). There are many types and sources of laws such as customary laws, common laws or civil laws. Some of these are written. Some are not, yet they have been in existence for thousands of years. Environmental lawis a category of law just like criminal law. While it has been present for thousands of years, largely embedded in a variety of other laws, environmental law today stands in a category by itself reflecting the evolution of our awareness about and values towards the environment. There are two streams of environmental laws: national and international. National environmental laws include environmental legislations, among others. International environmental laws include such legal instruments as conventions and protocols, which are binding, and less powerful instruments of law such as guidelines or codes of conducts, agreements, resolutions, guidelines and declarations. Since 1985, 11 MECs have entered into force and over 1000 other regional or bilateral agreements have entered into force (UNEP 2000). National Environmental Laws in Canada
Visit Environment Canada’s website for further more information. The Different Types of Conventions There are many different types of environmental conventions. Regional Conventions: these are regional in scope and include the series of Regional Seas Conventions, each of which cover specific oceanic regions and associated countries. Global Conventions: These are typically referred to as the MECs. They concern and invite the participation of all countries. The conventions detailed on our website, i.e. the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Wetlands, and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), are all Multilateral Environmental Conventions. Issue specific Conventions: Our understanding of the environment was such between the early 40’s and 70’s that environmental problems were mainly acknowledged when they had a direct impact on resources of value to humans. Examples of such conventions include the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna or the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Rhine Against Pollution by Chlorides. Holistic Conventions: The more recent conventions reflect a deeper understanding of environmental problems. Such conventions as the one on Biodiversity and Climate Change, both opened for signature in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, represent a shift towards a holistic understanding of the environment by addressing issues with multiple ramifications and impact on all sectors of society. Some benefits of MECs They assist in creating and building consensus between nations on specific goals for environmental protection They demonstrate international recognition of the seriousness of the environmental issue addressed by each convention. They increase public awareness of the importance of the environmental issues They identify concrete standards, targets for remedial, protection, conservation and sustainable use purposes They define in their preamble a shared rationale by signatory Parties of the need for the conventions They are binding legal instruments and require Signatory Parties to implement the articles of the conventions They enable Civil Society to require that governments be accountable to the commitments made in the various conventions They are important tools to ensure that other international non-environmental agreements, such as trade agreements, take environmental concerns into consideration. Some limitations of MECs Much of the increased environmental damage observed on the planet today is linked to the increased scale of global economic activities. For example, international trade has grown exponentially in the last 50 years leaving the three richest individuals in the world with a combined wealth greater than the GDP of 48 least developed countries. It remains a challenge to ensure the integration of trade agreements, such as those resulting from the work of the World Trade organization (WTO), with MECs. The inclusion of the precautionary principle in the most recent MECs for example often goes counter current to principles driving the work of the WTO.In a recent joint publication by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and UNEP, entitled Environment and Trade, the authors write: “As economic globalization proceeds and the global nature of many environmental problems becomes more evident, there is bound to be friction between the multilateral systems of law governing both” UNEP acts as the environmental conscience of the United Nations system. With the increased importance of the environment in the international arena since the beginning of the 1960’s, came the need for international environmental laws. Hence, since its creation in 1973, the development of environmental norms and standards has been part of UNEP’s key functions. A key document that guides the work of UNEP in the field of environmental law is the Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law, also called the Montevido Programme. First adopted in 1982, it was first revised in the early 1990’s as part of the preparatory process to the World Summit on Environment and Development in 1992, and again in 1996. UNEP has played and continues to play a catalytic role in International Environmental Law. With environmental Conventions alone, UNEP has taken on the responsibility to: Provide the secretariats to the following conventions and protocols:
Provide support and expertise in the development and ongoing implementation of conventions including:
Facilitate the coordination of negotiations for new conventions including:
Monitor the development of environmental conventions and protocols, including those taking place outside of UNEP and when appropriate, contribute to their development Facilitate the exploration of opportunities for collaboration between conventions. To this end, UNEP’s Division for Environmental Conventions now produces a new newsletter called Synergies Provide technical expertise and training, particularly to developing countries, for the development of legal frameworks to enable the implementation of the conventions In addition to these responsibilities, UNEP must also be forward looking and therefore follow the evolution of, as well as participate in modeling the future direction of international environmental law development. This mandate expands beyond conventions themselves and includes a wide array of additional legal instruments such as guidelines and codes of conducts. Definitions to navigate the sea of UN jargon Convention and Treaties These two terms can be used interchangeably and refer to legally binding agreements between states. These conventions or treaties define the duties of states party to the treaty. State parties States party to an international agreement are the countries that have ratified it and are thereby legally bound to comply with its provisions. Ratification of a Convention Ratification of an international agreement represents the promise of a state to uphold it and adhere to the legal norms that it specifies. It is a process which may involve the development of new legislations to ensure that the agreement can be upheld. Signing a Convention Signing a Convention represents a promise of the state to adhere to the principles and norms specified in the document without creating legal duties, such as national legislations, to comply with them. Signing is the first step that states undertake towards ratifying and thus becoming states parties to an agreement. Presidential signature of an agreement must be ratified by parliament for the agreement to become legally binding. Legally binding Implies legal obligation to comply with the agreement. Preamble The preamble is the introductory section of a convention. It identifies key issues under consideration, states recognition for the underlying factors that characterize the environmental concerns addressed by the convention, and identifies the key general objectives of the convention. Bilateral agreement Involves the participation of two parties. Multilateral agreement Involves more than two parties. It is also referred to as a global agreement. Conference of the Party (COP) The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of a convention and is composed of all State Parties. The gathering of these State Parties every two years or so is referred to as the COP meeting one, two, three, etc. A Convention “enters into force” A convention enters into force when a predetermined number of States have signed and ratified the convention. The required number of ratifications changes from convention to convention. Amendments Refers to a revision or change made to a convention. Memorandum of Understanding A short document recording the terms of an agreement. Delegation A delegation consists in the group of people selected to represent the Canadian government at a meeting. Government employees, senior officials, and ministers mainly compose the delegation but representatives from non-governmental organizations and youth for example, are sometimes asked to join the delegation. Stakeholder Stakeholders includes all those interested in an issue or being directly or indirectly impacted by an issue. They are those with a stake in the process and the outcomes of discussions or decision-making. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) NGOs can be defined as private, not-for-profit organizations with a voluntary component, which means that they often attract volunteers and contributions and they are not mandatory. This general definition does not however really reflect the diversity of NGOs now existing around the world. NGOs vary in size from one person to several thousands, from a local to an international focus, from self-financing to total reliance on government funding. Precautionary principle Emerging from German National Law in 1976, the precautionary principle now appears in numerous international environmental conventions and declarations. Principle 15 of the 1992 Rio Declaration defines the precautionary principle as: “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”. The term is however complex and holds many interpretations. For more information on the precautionary principle click here. |
