The Global Politics of the Environment

Transcription

1 The Global Politics of the Environment

2 Also by Lorraine Elliott INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS: Protecting the Antarctic PROTECTING THE ANTARCTIC: Australia and the Minerals Convention

3 The Global Politics of the Environment Lorraine Elliott

4 Lorraine Elliott 1998 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 1998 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copy-edited and typeset by Povey-Edmondson Tavistock and Rochdale, England

5 For Matthew, Loren, Louise and Benjamin

6 Contents Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations x xii Introduction 1 Structure of the Book 4 1 From Stockholm to Rio 7 Before Stockholm 8 The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 11 Stockholm to Rio: The In-Between Years 13 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 17 Conclusion 25 2 The Transboundary Agenda: Conservation and Pollution 27 Introduction 27 Protecting Wildlife and Conserving Living Resources 28 Transboundary Pollution: Dispersal and Displacement 37 Managing Hazardous Waste 44 Conclusion 51 3 The Emergence of a Global Agenda 52 The Global Commons of the Atmosphere: Ozone Depletion 53 The Global Commons of the Atmosphere: Climate Change 60 Global Heritage or Sovereign Resources: Biodiversity 73 Global Heritage or Sovereign Resources: Deforestation 80 Common Interest and Global Burden Sharing: Desertification 89 Conclusion 94 vii

7 viii Contents 4 The State and Global Institutions 96 Introduction 96 The Inadequate State? 98 International Environmental Law 100 Institutional Reform 105 The United Nations 107 Moving Beyond Reform: The Critical Position Non-State Actors: Science, Commerce and Global Civil Society 120 Science and Environmental Governance 120 Business, Industry and Environmental Governance 123 Global Civil Society 129 Non-Governmental Organisations: Movements to Save the Planet? 131 Conclusion Voices from the Margin: Women and Indigenous Peoples 147 Holding the Keys: Women and the Environment 147 Humanity's Hope? Indigenous Peoples and the Environment The International Political Economy of the Environment 169 North and South 169 Whose Common Agenda? 173 Common but Differentiated Responsibilities 176 Sustainable Development Strategies for Sustainable Development 192 Enhancing the Flow of Resources to Developing Countries 192 Debt and the Environment 204 Trade and the Environment 207 Market-Based Financial Mechanisms 215 Conclusion Environmental Security 219 Introduction 219 Militarising Environmental Politics: The Environment and Security 220

8 Contents ix Demilitarising Security: Securing the Environment 231 Revisiting Environmental Security The Global Politics of the Environment 242 Problem-Solving and Critique 243 Evaluating the Contemporary World Order 248 Future Conditional? 253 Further Reading 258 Bibliography 262 Index 300

9 Acknowledgements The process of writing an international account of global environmental politics has led me to incur debts to colleagues around the world. Many of these debts have arisen not just in the writing of this specific book, but in the willingness of many to spend time talking with me about global environmental politics generally, providing a supportive community of scholars and enabling me to test ideas through seminars, conference papers and publication. They have, at all times, been encouraging of my work even as they required me to strengthen my own arguments when, as happens, they called me to account for my views. They may not have realised, at the time, that they were contributing in various ways to the development of the ideas that appear in this book, and perhaps neither did I. In various ways, then, and for various reasons I would like to thank Marc Williams, Julian Saurin, Matt Paterson, Ian Rowlands, Dave Scrivener, Peter Newell, Mark Imber, Hugh Dyer and John Vogler; Lois Lorentzen and Jennifer Turpin; Gwyn Prins; Kristalina Georgieva; Helen Freeman (and the staff at WorldWIDE); Ann Tickner, Maureen Molot, Kim Nossal, Martin Rudner, Stuart Harris, Kate Manzo, Joe Camilleri and Andy Mack; and Ali Bos, Adam Cunningham, Deb Foskey and Johanna Sutherland (the last four, my postgraduates, all of whom are working on environment-related issues). The writing of this book has been woven not just with my research on a range of environmental issues and problems but also with my teaching on this subject matter. Thanks are due therefore to the undergraduate and honours students who have taken my global environmental politics courses over the last four years. Sue Fraser did a sterling job of checking and, where necessary, chasing up references, a task which required her to read through the whole manuscript (for which I am very grateful: she bears no responsibility for any errors). Steven Kennedy has been a strict but supportive publisher and his encouragement has been central to the completion of this book. I should like also to acknowledge financial support from the Australian National University New Staff Grant scheme and the Australian Research Council Small Grants for some of the research on NGOs which appears in this book. x

10 Acknowledgements xi I've been supported through the tough writing times by a good group offriends, many of whom were also in writing mode. Greg Fry, Paul Keal, Nancy Viviani, Graeme Cheeseman and Jan Jindy Pettman fall into this category. Jo Crawford, Jen Curtin, Heather Devere, Anna George, Diane Stone and Sue Weston have all turned up trumps as the best of friends and deserve thanks simply for that. That they are all so competent and knowledgeable in their various academic and policy work, which has often overlapped with mine, is an added bonus. This book is dedicated to my nieces and nephews: if there is to be such a thing as intergenerational equity, then it is to the next generation that we first owe that obligation. They deserve better from us than, I fear, we will be able to leave them. June 1997 LORRAINE ELLIOTT

11 List of Abbreviations ACC AGBM AU ANEN ANGOC APPEN AOSIS ASEAN BCSD CBD CCD CCOL CFCs CH 4 CHOGM CIDIE CITES CNPPA CO 2 COFO COICA COP CSCE CSD CSW DC/PAC DFNS DOEM EA EC ECE ECOSOC EEB Administrative Committee on Coordination Ad Hoc Working Group on the Berlin Mandate Activities Implemented Jointly African NGOs Environment Network African NGO Coalition Asia Pacific Peoples Environment Network Alliance of Small Island States Association of SouthEast Asian Nations Business Council for Sustainable Development Convention on Biological Diversity Convention to Combat Desertification [short title] Coordinating Committee on the Ozone Layer Chlorofluorocarbons Methane Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Committee of International Development Institutions on the Environment Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas Carbon dioxide Committee on Forestry Coordinating Body for the Indigenous Peoples Organisations of the Amazon Basin Conference of the Parties Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe Commission on Sustainable Development Commission on the Status of Women Desertfication Control Programme Activity Centre Debt for Nature Swaps Designated Officials for Environmental Matters Environmental Assessment European Community Economic Commission for Europe Economic and Social Council European Environment Bureau Xli

12 List ofabbreviations xiii EEZ EIA EITs EMIT ENB ENDA ENMOD EPA ETM EU FAO FCCC FIELD FLS FoE FoEI FRG G77 GATT GDP GEF GEMS GHG GNP GW HCFCs HFCs IACSD IAEA IBRD ICC ICCBD Exclusive Economic Zone Environmental Impact Assessment Economies in Transition [GATT Group on] Environmental Measures in Trade Earth Negotiations Bulletin Environment and Development Action in the Third World Environmental Modification Convention [Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques] [US] Environment Protection Agency Environmental trade measure European Union Food and Agriculture Organisation Framework Convention on Climate Change Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development [Nairobi] Forward Looking Strategies Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International Federal Republic of Germany Group of 77 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Gross Domestic Product Global Environment Facility Global Environment Monitoring System Greenhouse gas Gross National Product Gigawatts Hydrochlorofluorocarbons Hydrofluorocarbons Interagency Committee on Sustainable Development International Atomic Energy Agency International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Chamber of Commerce Intergovernmental Committee on the Convention on Biodiversity

13 xiv ICP ICSU IGBP lied IISD ILO IMF IMO INC INCD INFOTERRA INGOF IPAC IPCC IPE IPF IPRs IRPTC ITTA ITTO ITWAN IUCN IWC IWGF 11 JUSCANZ LRTAP MAPW MARPOL MDB MNC List ofabbreviations Industry Cooperative Programme International Council of Scientific Unions International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme International Institute for Environment and Development International Institute for Sustainable Development International Labour Organisation International Monetary Fund International Maritime Organisation Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the elaboration of an international convention to combat desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification particularly in Africa International Referral System for Sources of Environmental Information International NGO Forum International Policy Action Committee Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change International Political Economy Intergovernmental Panel on Forests Intellectual Property Rights International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals International Tropical Timber Agreement International Tropical Timber Organisation International Toxic Waste Action Network International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources International Whaling Commission Intergovernmental Working Group on Forests Joint Implementation Japan, United States, Canada, Australian and New Zealand Group Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Medical Association for Prevention of War International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships Multilateral Development Bank Multinational Corporation

14 List ofabbreviations xv N 20 NAFTA NASA NATO NAM NFAP NGO NICs NOZE NOx OAU ODA OECD OTA OTP PACD PNG ppb ppm PPP PrepComm PRIO R&D SAR SBI SBSTA SBSTTA SCOPE SIDS SIPRI S02 SLORC SPREP STAP SWAGSD TOMA TFAP Nitrous oxide North American Free Trade Agreement National Aeronautics and Space Administration North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Non-Aligned Movement National Forestry Action Plan Non-governmental organisation Newly Industrialised Countries National Ozone Expedition Nitrogen oxide Organisation of African Unity Official development assistance Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Office of Technology Assessment Ozone Trends Panel Plan of Action to Combat Desertification Papua New Guinea parts per billion parts per million Polluter Pays Principle Preparatory Committee Peace Research Institute, Oslo Research and Development Second Assessment Report Subsidiary Body on Implementation Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technical Advice Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice Scientific Committee on the Problems of the Human Environment Small Island Developing States Stockholm International Peace Research Institute sulphur dioxide State Law and Order Council South Pacific Regional Environment Programme Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel [UNEP] Senior Women's Advisory Group on Sustainable Development Tropospheric Ozone Management Area Tropical Forestry Action Plan

15 xvi UN UNCED UNCLOS UNCOD UNCTAD UNCTC UNDP UNEP UNESCO UNFCCC UNGA UNIFEM UNNRC USIS USSR UVB VOC WCED WCS WEDO WICEM WMO WRI WRM WTO WWF List ofabbreviations United Nations United Nations Conference on Environment and Development United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea United Nations Conference on Desertification United Nations Conference on Trade and Development United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations United Nations Development Programme United Nations Environment Programme United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change United Nations General Assembly United Nations Development Fund for Women United Nations Natural Resources Committee United States Information Service Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Ultra-Violet B radiation Volatile Organic Compound World Commission on Environment and Development World Conservation Strategy Women's Environment and Development Organisation World Industry Conference on Environmental Management World Meteorological Organisation World Resources Institute World Rainforest Movement World Trade Organisation World Wide Fund for Nature