The recognition of the need for a multilateral agreement with the world's major whaling nations on board was landmark, and paved the way for other agreements in future, such as the near-global ban on the ivory trade.
Another significant conference was the so-called "Earth Summit," in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This summit resulted was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and produced non-binding commitments by signatory nations to reduce their output of greenhouse gases.
An ongoing conference is the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which is currently meeting in Brazil and will consider the fate of the Atlantic bluefin tuna, whose stocks have become severely depleted in manner similar to the experience of the whaling industry in the early part of the 20th century.
Many agreements have entered into international environmental law. A binding agreement that flowed from the UNFCCC was the Kyoto Protocol, in which industrialized nations signed on to firm commitments with respect to greenhouse gas reduction.
An example of a bilateral agreement in international law is the 1991 U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement. This agreement addressed transboundary air pollution, with the negative consequence of causing acid rain in another...
Recognizing that air pollution can travel great distances, the agreement was a landmark for its recognition of the
multinational nature of pollution and the concept of clean air as a shared global resource (EPA, 2009).
Another agreement is the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. This agreement is a comprehensive agreement aimed at protecting human health and the
environment against the effects of the
generation, movement and disposal of hazardous wastes. This agreement recognizes that hazardous wastes must be managed in a multinational way, since pollution from these wastes can impact the environment across national borders. Moreover, the convention contains efforts to control the dumping on hazardous wastes on weaker countries.
Works Cited:
No author. (2008). Codification and Progressive Development of International Law. United Nations. Retrieved November 15, 2009 from http://www.un.org/law/lindex.htm
Convention on Biological Diversity website, various pages. (2009). Retrieved November 15, 2009 from http://www.cbd.int
Currie, D. (2007).
Whales,
sustainability, and international environmental governance. Review of European Community and International Environmental Law. Vol. 16,1,45-57.
International Whaling Commission website, various pages. (2009). Retrieved November 15, 2009 from http://www.iwcoffice.org/
EPA. (2009). U.S.-Canada air quality agreement. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved November 15, 2009 from http://www.epa.gov/airmarkt/progsregs/usca/index.htm
