Earth Summits

June. Representatives from many nations convene at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

One of the conclusions from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (the Earth Summit) was the urgent need to find a more sustainable way of life, based on careful use of resources and a reduction in environmental emissions. There was also a call to move towards a model in which environmental enhancement is fully integrated with economic development. The consequences of this summit have been far-reaching not least by the fact that, in Europe and elsewhere, environmental protection requirements are now integrated into many policies rather than being separate pieces of legislation. Indeed Article 2 of the EC treaty states that the Community shall. .. promote throughout the Community harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of economic activities This may be viewed as the first step towards... 

Shapiro R (1986) Origins A Skeptic s Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth. Summit Books, New York... 

Recently the protection of the environment has become increasingly important for industry with the requirement that the potential impact on the environment is considered for all aspects of industrial processes. Such considerations are supported by environmental legislation that controls all types of emissions as well as the treatment of wastes. Such legislation is based on global standards that have largely resulted from developments within the European Union, Japan, and the United States in collaboration with international conventions. Of these, the Basel Convention (1989) and the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (1992) were significant in the control and prevention of wastes. In the case of liquid wastes that are most appropriate for treatment by liquid liquid extraction, limits for discharge into the aqueous environment have been established by the three countries already mentioned. These limits depend on the particular country and sometimes on the industry. (See section 14.6.)... 

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which agreed on the nature of the problem and the need for action led by industrialized countries, was signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 and ratified by the US Senate later the same year, and entered into force a year later. It was also in the period 1990-1992 that the EU developed proposals for a carbon tax, later made conditional on action by other countries. 

Earth Summit, Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World. Agenda 21, Chapter 18, paragraphs 18.6 and 18.8, as endorsed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992. 

Today, society is flooded with innumerable chemicals both for good and adverse effects. Much has been discussed about adequate testing and evaluation in a reasonable time. Safeguarding human health and the environment against deleterious effects received appreciable significance after the Earth Summit held... 

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) declared that the health of children is more severely affected by unhealthy environments than that of any other population group, that children are highly vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation, and that their special susceptibilities need to be fully taken into account. 

WHO (1997) Health and environment in sustainable development Five years after the Earth Summit. Geneva, World Health Organization. 

Governments can also bring about change by endorsing the principle of sustainable development. This principle was introduced at the 1992 Earth Summit Conference. Sustainable development takes into account the environment, the economy, and the health and needs of society. 

IPCC s first assessment report was issued in 1990 in which they announced that, although there was some uncertainty about the problem of global warming, there was increasing international awareness that a precautional approach was necessary because it would be too late to act when real damage became apparent. As a result, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted at the UNCED Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. 

An important new tool to develop/harmonize chemical hazard communication systems is the UN Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). While the existing chemical hazard communication systems are similar in intent, there are differences in their specific provisions. The GHS is an important tool to harmonize systems worldwide. As noted above, the need for a global system was endorsed internationally by the 1992 Earth Summit . 

Some PRTRs have been up and running for many years and even predate the Earth Summit, others have been initiated more recently, and yet others are still in the planning stages. This overview takes a closer look at some of the more fully developed PRTRs, while making reference also to those in earlier phases of development. 

At the global level, there have been important strides in the control and management of chemicals. The 10-year followup to the Rio Earth Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, was held in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Among the targets it set was to use and produce chemicals by 2020 in ways that do not lead to significant adverse effects on human health and the environment. 

The Earth Council is established in Costa Rica as a focal point for facilitating followup and implementation of the agreements reached at the Earth Summit, and linking national SD councils, http //www.ecouncil.ac.cr/... 

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