Chap2

1999CRCPressLLCPartIIInternationalConventions,Treaties,andAgreementsdividers.fmPage54Sunday,August19,20011:41PM21999CRCPressLLCAnIntroductiontoInternationalEnvironmentalControlsCONTENTSAnOverviewofInternationalConventionsandAgreementsTheRelationshipBetweenInternationalTradeandEnvironmentalControlsNEPAInfluenceonInternationalEnvironmentalControlsNewToolsforProvidingProactiveEnvironmentalControlConclusionTheWorldResourcesInstitute(WRI)publishesanannualenvironmentalalmanacinwhichabriefdescriptionofacountryandabriefdescriptionofthatcountry’senvironmentalproblemsarelisted.Forinstance,thealmanacnotedthatinBelgium,eventhoughwaterprotectionlawshavebeenineffectsince1971,theselawshavenotstoppedsteelfactoriesfrompouringwasteeffluentintotheMeuseRiver.Theriveristhesourceofdrinkingwaterfor5millionpeople—yetitishighlypolluted.Thereasonappearstobethatthefactoriescanaffordtopaythepenalties.“Finesaresolowthatcompanieswouldratherpaythemthantreattheireffluentadequately(WRI1994).”Indeed,commitmenttoenvironmentallysoundpolicyisasmuchafunctionofdollarsasanythingelse.ThisistrueintheUnitedStates.Itistrueintheinternationalcommunity.AnexaminationofinternationalenvironmentalcontrolsfindsthattheconcernsandproblemsassociatedwithfindingsolutionstoenvironmentalissuesintheUnitedStatesareessentiallythesameonaninternationallevel,althoughmorecomplex.Why?Theelementsthatofteninfluenceourabilitytofindsolutionstoenvironmentalproblemsincludegeography,politics,economics,andbusiness.Attheinternationallevel,theseelementstakeongreatersignificance.Forexample,withregardtogeography—Willacountrylocatedinatemperateclimacticregionunderstandtheneedsofatropicalregion?Forpolitics—Whichcountriesareinabetterpositiontoinfluencethebehaviorofothercountries?Foreconomics—Shouldapoor,undevelopedcountrybeexpectedtomeetthesameenvironmentalstandardsasthatofavital,developedcountry?Andforbusiness—Cananindustryinacountrywithenvironmentalregulations(affectingtheindustry’sbottomline)competewiththesameindustryinacountrywithnoenvi-ronmentalregulations?Itwouldseematfirstthatthedifferencesaretooextremeattheinternationalscaletoproduceeffectiveinternationalenvironmentalcontrols.However,environmentalmanagementhasalwaysinvolvedanassortmentofdiverseopinions,needs,andrequirements.Throughacombinationofscientificstudy,regulations,lawsuits,trial-and-error,andcreativesolution,humanscontinuetodealconstructivelywithenvironmentalproblems.Inthatsense,itisnodifferentattheinternationallevel.Thesystemofcurrentinternationalenvironmentalcontrolshasevolvedfromaseriesofagreements,disagreements,improvedcommunication,improvedtechnologicaladvances,andagrowingattempttomeettheneedsoftheglobalcommunity.Inthischapter,wewillgetanoverviewofconventionsheldtoaddressenvironmentalproblemsandthetreatiesandagreementsmadebetweenvariouscountriesasaresultoftheseconventions.WewilllearnthatthereisastrongrelationshipbetweeninternationaltradeandinternationalChap2.fmPage5Sunday,August19,200112:00PM1999CRCPressLLCenvironmentalcontrols.WewillseehowoneenvironmentallawintheUnitedStateshasbeenadaptedworldwidetoaidinmakingenvironmentallysounddecisions.Andwewillpreviewanewtoolforlookingattheenvironmentalimpactsofproducinginternationalproductsandservices.Insubsequentchapters,howthesetreaties,agreements,controls,andtoolsmayaffectyourorganiza-tion’sbottomlineormissionwillbeexplained.ANOVERVIEWOFINTERNATIONALCONVENTIONSANDAGREEMENTSThepast30yearshavebroughtanumberofenvironmentalissuestotheforefrontworldwide.Theseissueshavebeenaddressed,bothgenerallyandspecifically,throughaseriesoftreatiesandagree-mentsbetweennations.Inits1992reportonworldresources,theWRIobservedthattwomainindicationsofanycountry’scommitmenttoenvironmentalprotectionare(1)whetheritcollectsanddisseminatesenvironmentalinformationeffectively,and(2)itsparticipationinrelevantinter-nationalagreements(WRI1992).Beforeanyagreementcanoccur,theremustbeanunderstandingoftheenvironment.Forinstance,thecollectionanddistributionofenvironmentalinformationinvariouscountriesandregionshasbeenapriorityoftheUnitedNations.InconjunctionwiththeUnitedNationsEnvi-ronmentProgramme(UNEP)andtheUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(UNDP),theWRIrecentlycollecteddataworldwidetoestablishbothabaselineofenvironmentalconditionsandnotabletrendsfortheworld’snaturalresources(1992).Thisreportfocusedonsustainabledevel-opmentinpreparationforthethen-upcoming1992UnitedNationsConferenceonEnvironmentandDevelopmentinRiodeJaneiro,Brazil.Theagendaitemsforthisconferenceincludeddegra-dationofthesoilresourcebase,thegreenhouseeffect,andbiodiversity.Inaddition,othereffortstoprovideglobalbaselineenvironmentalinformationhavebeenundertaken.TheresultsoftheseeffortsarefoundinpublicationssuchastheEnvironmentalDataReport(whichispublishedbiannuallybyUNEP,WRI,andtheUnitedKingdom)andtheWorldBank’sWorldDevelopmentReport(which,in1992,focusedexclusivelyontheenvironment).WRIisalsoinvolvedinmaintainingandpublishingtheWorldResourcesDataBase(whichcontainsa20-yeardataset,whenpossible,andisavailableoncomputerdisk).Severalcountrieshavealsocolle