sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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Chapter II
STRENGTHENING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PILLAR
In 1992, the environmental pillar was the weakest of the three pillars of <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>,
reflected in the importance placed by the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development on
strengthening it in a number of areas: legislation and policies on the environment and responsibility for
damage; the precautionary approach; internalization of environmental costs; the polluter pays principle;
and environmental impact assessment (see table II.1). Since then, Latin American and Caribbean
countries have made significant progress with environmental management. There has been a proliferation
and consolidation of public, private and civil society institutions working in the field of the environment
and progress has been made in the areas of public policy and private-sector initiatives, <strong>development</strong> of
environmental legislation and access by countries in the region to international environmental
agreements, as well as their participation in international and regional <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>
institutions, which have served as forums for addressing environmental issues in an integrated way with
<strong>development</strong> issues (see table II.1 and box II.1). This chapter reviews some of these legislative and
institutional advances (see section A) and the evolution of a number of environmental issues that are
highly relevant to the region (see section B), starting with the subjects of the two conventions concluded
in 1992: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on
Biological Diversity.
PRINCIPLES OF THE RIO DECLARATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
2 States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law,
the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and <strong>development</strong>al
policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause
damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
11 States shall enact effective environmental legislation. Environmental standards, management objectives
and priorities should reflect the environmental and <strong>development</strong>al context to which they apply. Standards
applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted economic and social cost to other
countries, in particular developing countries.
13 States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and
other environmental damage. States shall also cooperate in an expeditious and more determined manner to
develop further international law regarding liability and compensation for adverse effects of
environmental damage caused by activities within their jurisdiction or control to areas beyond their
jurisdiction.
15 In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States
according to their capabilities. 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.
16 National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of
economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of
pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.
17 Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for proposed activities
that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a
competent national authority.