THE RIO DECLARATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (1992) PREAMBLE The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,

Having met at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992, Reaffirming the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human ado!ted at "toc#holm on 1$ June 19%2, and see#ing to &uild u!on it, nvironment,

'ith the goal of esta&lishing a ne( and e)uita&le glo&al !artnershi! through the creation of ne( levels of co*o!eration among "tates, #e+ sectors of societies and !eo!le, 'or#ing to(ards international agreements (hich res!ect the interests of all and !rotect the integrit+ of the glo&al environmental and develo!mental s+stem, Recogni,ing the integral and interde!endent nature of the arth, our home, -roclaims that. PRINCIPLE 1 Human &eings are at the centre of concerns for sustaina&le develo!ment/ 0he+ are entitled to a health+ and !roductive life in harmon+ (ith nature/ PRINCIPLE 2 "tates have, in accordance (ith the Charter of the United Nations and the !rinci!les of international la(, the sovereign right to e1!loit their o(n resources !ursuant to their o(n environmental and develo!mental !olicies, and the res!onsi&ilit+ to ensure that activities (ithin their 2urisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other "tates or of areas &e+ond the limits of national 2urisdiction/ PRINCIPLE 3 0he right to develo!ment must &e fulfilled so as to e)uita&l+ meet develo!mental and environmental needs of !resent and future generations/ PRINCIPLE 4 3n order to achieve sustaina&le develo!ment, environmental !rotection shall constitute an integral !art of the develo!ment !rocess and cannot &e considered in isolation from it/ PRINCIPLE 5

4ll "tates and all !eo!le shall co*o!erate in the essential tas# of eradicating !overt+ as an indis!ensa&le re)uirement for sustaina&le develo!ment, in order to decrease the dis!arities in standards of living and &etter meet the needs of the ma2orit+ of the !eo!le of the (orld/ PRINCIPLE 6 0he s!ecial situation and needs of develo!ing countries, !articularl+ the least develo!ed and those most environmentall+ vulnera&le, shall &e given s!ecial !riorit+/ 3nternational actions in the field of environment and develo!ment should also address the interests and needs of all countries/ PRINCIPLE 7 "tates shall co*o!erate in a s!irit of glo&al !artnershi! to conserve, !rotect and restore the health and integrit+ of the arth5s ecos+stem/ 3n vie( of the different contri&utions to glo&al environmental degradation, "tates have common &ut differentiated res!onsi&ilities/ 0he develo!ed countries ac#no(ledge the res!onsi&ilit+ that the+ &ear in the international !ursuit of sustaina&le develo!ment in vie( of the !ressures their societies !lace on the glo&al environment and of the technologies and financial resources the+ command/ PRINCIPLE 8 0o achieve sustaina&le develo!ment and a higher )ualit+ of life for all !eo!le, "tates should reduce and eliminate unsustaina&le !atterns of !roduction and consum!tion and !romote a!!ro!riate demogra!hic !olicies/ PRINCIPLE 9 "tates should co*o!erate to strengthen endogenous ca!acit+*&uilding for sustaina&le develo!ment &+ im!roving scientific understanding through e1changes of scientific and technological #no(ledge, and &+ enhancing the develo!ment, ada!tation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including ne( and innovative technologies/ PRINCIPLE 10 nvironmental issues are &est handled (ith the !artici!ation of all concerned citi,ens, at the relevant level/ 4t the national level, each individual shall have a!!ro!riate access to information concerning the environment that is held &+ !u&lic authorities, including information on ha,ardous materials and activities in their communities, and the o!!ortunit+ to !artici!ate in decision*ma#ing !rocesses/ "tates shall facilitate and encourage !u&lic a(areness and !artici!ation &+ ma#ing information (idel+ availa&le/ ffective access to 2udicial and administrative !roceedings, including redress and remed+, shall &e !rovided/

PRINCIPLE 11

"tates shall enact effective environmental legislation/ nvironmental standards, management o&2ectives and !riorities should reflect the environmental and develo!mental conte1t to (hich the+ a!!l+/ "tandards a!!lied &+ some countries ma+ &e ina!!ro!riate and of un(arranted economic and social cost to other countries, in !articular develo!ing countries/ PRINCIPLE 12 "tates should co*o!erate to !romote a su!!ortive and o!en international economic s+stem that (ould lead to economic gro(th and sustaina&le develo!ment in all countries, to &etter address the !ro&lems of environmental degradation/ 0rade !olic+ measures for environmental !ur!oses should not constitute a means of ar&itrar+ or un2ustifia&le discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade/ Unilateral actions to deal (ith environmental challenges outside the 2urisdiction of the im!orting countr+ should &e avoided/ nvironmental measures addressing trans&oundar+ or glo&al environmental !ro&lems should, as far as !ossi&le, &e &ased on an international consensus/ PRINCIPLE 13 "tates shall develo! national la( regarding lia&ilit+ and com!ensation for the victims of !ollution and other environmental damage/ "tates shall also co*o!erate in an e1!editious and more determined manner to develo! further international la( regarding lia&ilit+ and com!ensation for adverse effects of environmental damage caused &+ activities (ithin their 2urisdiction or control to areas &e+ond their 2urisdiction/ PRINCIPLE 14 "tates should effectivel+ co*o!erate to discourage or !revent the relocation and transfer to other "tates of an+ activities and su&stances that cause severe environmental degradation or are found to &e harmful to human health/ PRINCIPLE 15 3n order to !rotect the environment, the !recautionar+ a!!roach shall &e (idel+ a!!lied &+ states according to their ca!a&ilities/ 'here there are threats of serious or irreversi&le damage, lac# of full scientific certaint+ shall not &e used as a reason for !ost!oning cost*effective measures to !revent environmental degradation/ PRINCIPLE 16 National authorities should endeavour to !romote the internali,ation of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, ta#ing into account the a!!roach that the !olluter should, in !rinci!le, &ear the cost of !ollution, (ith due regard to the !u&lic interest and (ithout distorting international trade and investment/

PRINCIPLE 17

nvironmental im!act assessment, as a national instrument, shall &e underta#en for !ro!osed activities that are li#el+ to have a significant adverse im!act on the environment and are su&2ect to a decision of a com!etent national authorit+/ PRINCIPLE 18 "tates shall immediatel+ notif+ other "tates of an+ natural disasters or other emergencies that are li#el+ to !roduce sudden harmful effects on the environment of those "tates/ ver+ effort shall &e made &+ the international communit+ to hel! "tates so afflicted/ PRINCIPLE 19 "tates shall !rovide !rior and timel+ notification and relevant information to !otentiall+ affected "tates on activities that ma+ have a significant adverse trans&oundar+ environmental effect and shall consult (ith those "tates at an earl+ stage and in good faith/ PRINCIPLE 20 'omen have a vital role in environmental management and develo!ment/ 0heir full !artici!ation is therefore essential to achieve sustaina&le develo!ment/ PRINCIPLE 21 0he creativit+, ideals and courage of the +outh of the (orld should &e mo&ili,ed to forge a glo&al !artnershi! in order to achieve sustaina&le develo!ment and ensure a &etter future for all/ PRINCIPLE 22 3ndigenous !eo!le and their communities, and other local communities, have a vital role in environmental management and develo!ment &ecause of their #no(ledge and traditional !ractices/ "tates should recogni,e and dul+ su!!ort their identit+, culture and interests and ena&le their effective !artici!ation in the achievement of sustaina&le develo!ment/ PRINCIPLE 23 0he environment and natural resources of !eo!le under o!!ression, domination and occu!ation shall &e !rotected/ PRINCIPLE 24 'arfare is inherentl+ destructive of sustaina&le develo!ment/ "tates shall therefore res!ect international la( !roviding !rotection for the environment in times of armed conflict and co* o!erate in its further develo!ment, as necessar+/

PRINCIPLE 25 -eace, develo!ment and environmental !rotection are interde!endent and indivisi&le/

PRINCIPLE 26 "tates shall resolve all their environmental dis!utes !eacefull+ and &+ a!!ro!riate means in accordance (ith the Charter of the United Nations/ PRINCIPLE 27 "tates and !eo!le shall co*o!erate in good faith and in a s!irit of !artnershi! in the fulfillment of the !rinci!les em&odied in this Declaration and in the further develo!ment of international la( in the field of sustaina&le develo!ment/