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Multilateral Environmental Agreements

The main method available under international law for countries to work together on global environmental issues is the multilateral environmental agreement (MEA). MEAs are agreements between states which may take the form of “soft-law”, setting out non-legally binding principles which parties will respect when considering actions which affect a particular environmental issue, or “hard-law” which specify legally-binding actions to be taken to work toward an environmental objective.

New Zealand’s key obligations under the agreements

The 1992 Earth Summit

Several important MEAs were entered into at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, or the “Earth Summit”), which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Earth Summit produced five key documents on sustainable development issues.): two “hard law” – the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Framework Convention on Climate Change which New Zealand has signed and ratified (see below); and three “soft law” – the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, and the Forest Principles which were adopted by consensus at Rio.

Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development describes states’ obligations for promoting the principle of sustainable development. This principle involves managing resources in a way that provides for our needs in using those resources, as well as providing for their protection – both for their inherent value, and to preserve mankind’s future interests in them. The obligation to “conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem” is framed in a way that recognises that states have differing abilities and methods to draw on when dealing with environmental problems.

The Declaration identifies 27 guiding principles on sustainable development, including:

intergenerational equity – that there should be equity between the rights and needs of the current generation and of generations to come
precautionary approach – that lack of full scientific certainty of the causes and effects of environmental damage should not be a reason for delaying action to prevent such damage
polluter pays – that polluters should bear the cost of pollution, and that the costs of environmental damage should be reflected in cost/benefit analyses of actions affecting the environment
responsibilities – that the world community has a common responsibility for protecting the global environment. However, countries that pollute more should do more for environmental protection than countries that pollute less.

Agenda 21

Agenda 21 is a plan for use by governments, local authorities and individuals to implement the principle of sustainable development contained in the Rio Declaration. This 40-chapter document has significant status as a consensus document adopted by about 180 countries. Some its main themes include:

reforming policies – for bringing together environmental and economic issues. It calls for environmental considerations to be built into policy-making from the start rather than being added as an afterthought
controlling wasteful consumption and production – Agenda 21 pinpoints the wasteful consumption and production associated with industrialisation and wealth acquisition as the most serious current cause of global degradation of the environment
improving technologies – promoting greater use of environmentally sound technologies that use resources more efficiently and generate minimal levels of waste
integrating trade and environment – to make environment and trade mutually supportive. This recognises that as trade can be adversely affected by the unjustifiable use of environmental concerns as technical barriers, so trade can adversely affect the environment if it leads to unsustainable production or unsustainable use of resources.

New Zealand’s legislation (Resource Management Act, Biosecurity Act, Local Government Act etc.) is largely in accord with the themes in Agenda 21. In our case, the action needed is to implement that legislation satisfactorily. From 1993 to 2001, New Zealand reported annually to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) on the implementation of Agenda 21. These reports were prepared by the UNCED Implementation Officials Group, which consisted of representatives from twelve government departments with policy roles in implementing Agenda 21. The 2002 report to the CSD, Towards Sustainable Development in New Zealand, involved wider consultation as part of the preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

[The Commission of Sustainable Development (CSD) was also set up at UNCED to monitor the implementation of Agenda 21.]

Forest Principles

The Forest Principles address the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. One aspect of work pursuant to the Principles concerns the development of criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of forests. Since Rio, work on the Forest Principles has been advanced by an “Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Panel on Forests” (the IPF) and an Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (the IFF), both under the auspices of the CSD.

The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development agreed on the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

Other key agreements

The Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992 (FCCC) – ratified on 8 September 1993
The Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 (CBD) – ratified on 16 September 1993
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, 1989 – ratified on 21 July 1988
Antarctica: The Antarctic Treaty, 1959 – ratified on 1 November 1960 - Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, 1980 (CCAMLR) – ratified on 8 March 1982 – and others
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 (UNCLOS) – ratified on 19 July 1996
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, 1989 – ratified on 20 December 1994
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) 2001 - ratified on 24 September 2004.
Marine pollution: Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1971 (London [Dumping] Convention) – ratified on 30 April 1975 – and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (MARPOL) – not yet ratified
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, 1973 (CITES) – acceded to on 10 May 1989
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, 1971 (Ramsar Convention) – signed on 13 August 1976 with effect from 13 December 1976
Convention for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the South Pacific, 1989 (Wellington Convention) – ratified on 17 May 1991
South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, 1985 – ratified on 13 November 1986
Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region, 1986 [SPREP] – ratified on 3 May 1990
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity - ratified on 24 February 2005

For a full list of New Zealand’s Multilateral Environmental Agreements see MEAs in force in New Zealand.