The history of international environmental law - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 29

problems. The extensive hole in the ozone layer protecting the earth from
ultraviolet radiation, which was fi rst confi rmed over Antarctica, forced us to
admit that industrial operations can have far-reaching consequences. Awareness
of climate change and the rapid depletion of biodiversity also increased during
this period.
The preparation process for the 1992 UN Conference on the Environment
in Rio was different from the 1972 Stockholm process: it evolved into a veri-
table battle between the richer North, which was pushing for stricter environ-
mental protection, and the poorer South, which prioritized its economic
progress. The developing countries were happy with the loose wording of the
UN-established Brundtland Commission that human communities should aim
for 'sustainable development'. The industrial countries' agenda was considered
rather hypocritical by the developing countries: the industrial countries were,
after all, the ones that had caused both global and local environmental
problems, and they had the resources, the technology and the know-how to
mitigate these problems.
The industrial countries managed to negotiate a relatively ambitious Rio
Declaration, the Agenda 21 (a plan for promoting environmental protection
during the next century), the Framework Convention on Climate Change 20
to combat climate change, the Convention on Biological Diversity 21 to
combat the loss of natural diversity, and the non-binding forest principles, but
the developing countries were still able to promote their own interests during
the negotiations. Essential to the developing countries were the right to devel-
opment and to a greater stake in future negotiations to address the world's
environmental problems. For the developing countries, the top priority was to
combat poverty, since poverty results in an unsustainable future and intensifi es
environmental problems.
The Rio 1992 Conference took place at a time when the idea prevailed that
a new fair world order based on international law could be attained. The
dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War had dismissed
socialism as a viable system and resulted in a global change in both security
and economic systems. The two-pole world turned into a world dominated
by the USA. The UN Security Council fi nally started to function as it was
supposed to: to intervene in wars and threats of war. US troops led the UN
Security Council mandated forces to eject Iraqi troops when they invaded
Kuwait in 1990.
The special status of the United States was already evident in the Rio 1992
Convention. The USA refused to sign the Convention on Biological Diversity
and made interpretive statements regarding certain principles of the Rio
Declaration. During Bill Clinton's two presidential terms, the USA assumed a
more international foreign policy, and the Clinton administration was active
in the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol. However,
disappointingly, the next US President, George W. Bush, refused to ratify the
Kyoto Protocol. 22