International environmental activities: The world is getting smaller
Barbara J. Goldsmith International environmentalactivity has entered a new age of sophistication and seriousness. Although gaps remain in legally binding agreements among nations on key environmental issues, initiatives by government and nongovernment groups abound worldwide. This vast and growing network of activity is focused on four areas: the interrelationship between environmental protection and economic development; transboundary pollution (e.g., hazardous waste transport, air pollution, and water pollution); global environmental phenomena (e.g., climate change and sea rise); and industrial emergencies (e.g., the aftermath of the Bhopal, Chernobyl, and Mine River episodes). “Progress is usually measured in decades, but for the world environment a 12-year span seems more appropriate” wrote Robert 0. Anderson (former chairman of Atlantic Richfield Co.) in 1985. “This is the time that elapsed between two conferences that are perhaps among the most significant in the history of the global environment-Stockholm in 1972 [the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment) and Versailles in 1984 [the World Industry Conference on Environmental Management].” Times have indeed changed. Stockholm looked to government action to alleviate environmental problems; Mrsailles recognized the need for parmership between government and the private sector. Stockholm saw a fundamental conflict between environmental quality and industrial develop ment; Versailles emphasized economic growth compatible with environmental protection. A new environmental ethic has been set in motion, reinforced by the 1987 World Commission on Environment
and Development report Our Common Fume: “Our report . . . is not a prediction of ever increasing environmental decay, poverty, and hardship in an ever more polluted world among ever decreasing resources. We see instead the possibility for a new era of economic growth, one that must be based on policies that sustain and expand the environmental resource base.” According to the World Environment Center, more than 120 countries added environmental oversight functions between 1972 and 1985. Growing recognition about the “truth of the global village*’and the necessity of “sustainable development” is spawning more serious international action. The Montreal Protocol on stratospheric ozone depletion, protocols to reduce sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions in industrialized nations, and a draft Convention on Dangerous Waste (now under negotiation) are examples. The United Nations Environment Program continues to play a key role in these initiatives. Some developing countries have aggressive environmental programs. For example, Brazil has just adopted what is hailed as “the world’s most comprehensive environmental legislation” (I). However, destruction of the natural resource base (including deforestation, soil degradation and loss, desertification, water loss, and salinization) and rapidly emerging industrialization and urbanization (including air and water pollution, inadequate sewerage and waste disposal systems, and unhealthy living conditions in congested city slums) threaten the environmental security of many Third World nations. In these nations, poverty alleviation and environmental protection are often interdependent, and multilateral develop ment banks (notably the World Bank) are strengthening their environmental programs. Last year, the industrializednation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development began to address how environmental cooperation with developing countries could be strengthened. If sustainable development is to be achieved on a global scale, partnerships between developed and developing countries and between government and private industry will be needed. The
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nonprofit, industry-funded International Environmental Bureau based in Geneva has established an information clearinghouse on pollution control and abatement to “improve environmental performance within industry around the world,” according to Deputy Director AI Fry. Among industrialized nations, hazardous-waste management, chemicals risk management, and transboundary air and water pollution remain high priorities. A regional environmental protection strategy through the year Zoo0 was recently approved by the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe. The United States, a leader in environmental protection, is heavily involved in international environmental activities. Sheldon Meyers, EPA‘s acting associate administrator for international activities, notes that other nations have developed regulatory programs equal to or more stringent than those in the United States (notable are Japan’s air pollution program and the Netherlands’ hazardous-wasteprogram). Major challenges lie ahead. The existence of environmental laws and agreementsdoes not guaranteetheir enforcement. Mrs. BNWO Mackenzie, head of international affairs of the Commission of European Communities, believes the critical issues for the future are the ozone layer, global climate change (including acid rain), and marine pollution (ocean dumping and seabed exploitation). Sheldon Meyers would add hazardous-waste management to the list. At Stockholm in 1972, author and environmentalist Barbara Ward said, “We serve not one, but two countries-our own and the global community.” Now, more than ever before, this way of thinking is on its way to becoming a reality.
References (I) hrernarional Environrnenr Reporrer 1988,11(6). 316.
Barbom J. Goldsm‘th. a specialist in environmental regulation and industrial plonning and development, is president of Barbara J. Goldrm‘th & Cornpony Environmental Management Consulting Services, Cnmbridge. MA. Envimn. Sci. Technot..MI. 22. No. 9. 1988 1005
