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INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FRESHWATER
2003
Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment
The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment,
having met at Stockholm from 5 to 16 June 1972,having
considered the need for a common outlook and for common
principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in
the preservation and enhancement of the human environment,
Proclaims that:
1. Man is both creature and moulder of his environment,
which gives him physical sustenance and affords him the
opportunity for intellectual, moral, social and spiritual
growth. In the long and tortuous evolution of the human race
on this planet a stage has been reached when, through the
rapid acceleration of science and technology, man has
acquired the power to transform his environment in countless
ways and on an unprecedented scale. Both aspects of man's
environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to
his well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights
the right to life itself.
2. The protection and improvement of the human
environment is a major issue which affects the well-being of
peoples and economic development throughout the world; it is
the urgent desire of the peoples of the whole world and the
duty of all Governments.
3. Man has constantly to sum up experience and go on
discovering, inventing, creating and advancing. In our time,
man's capability to transform his surroundings, if used
wisely, can bring to all peoples the benefits of development
and the opportunity to enhance the quality of life. Wrongly
or heedlessly applied, the same power can do incalculable
harm to human beings and the human environment. We see
around us growing evidence of man-made harm in many regions
of the earth: dangerous levels of pollution in water, air,
earth and living beings; major and undesirable disturbances
to the ecological balance of the biosphere; destruction and
depletion of irreplaceable resources; and gross
deficiencies, harmful to the physical, mental and social
health of man, in the man-made environment, particularly in
the living and working environment.
4. In the developing countries most of the environmental
problems are caused by under-development. Millions continue
to live far below the minimum levels required for a decent
human existence, deprived of adequate food and clothing,
shelter and education, health and sanitation. Therefore, the
developing countries must direct their efforts to
development, bearing in mind their priorities and the need
to safeguard and improve the environment. For the same
purpose, the industrialized countries should make efforts to
reduce the gap themselves and the developing countries. In
the industrialized countries, environmental problems are
generally related to industrialization and technological
development.
5. The natural growth of population continuously presents
problems for the preservation of the environment, and
adequate policies and measures should be adopted, as
appropriate, to face these problems. Of all things in the
world, people are the most precious. It is the people that
propel social progress, create social wealth, develop
science and technology and, through their hard work,
continuously transform the human environment. Along with
social progress and the advance of production, science and
technology, the capability of man to improve the environment
increases with each passing day.
6. A point has been reached in history when we must shape
our actions throughout the world with a more prudent care
for their environmental consequences. Through ignorance or
indifference we can do massive and irreversible harm to the
earthly environment on which our life and well being depend.
Conversely, through fuller knowledge and wiser action, we
can achieve for ourselves and our posterity a better life in
an environment more in keeping with human needs and hopes.
There are broad vistas for the enhancement of environmental
quality and the creation of a good life. What is needed is
an enthusiastic but calm state of mind and intense but
orderly work. For the purpose of attaining freedom in the
world of nature, man must use knowledge to build, in
collaboration with nature, a better environment. To defend
and improve the human environment for present and future
generations has become an imperative goal for mankind-a goal
to be pursued together with, and in harmony with, the
established and fundamental goals of peace and of worldwide
economic and social development.
7. To achieve this environmental goal will demand the
acceptance of responsibility by citizens and communities and
by enterprises and institutions at every level, all sharing
equitably in common efforts. Individuals in all walks of
life as well as organizations in many fields, by their
values and the sum of their actions, will shape the world
environment of the future.
Local and national governments will bear the greatest
burden for large-scale environmental policy and action
within their jurisdictions. International cooperation is
also needed in order to raise resources to support the
developing countries in carrying out their responsibilities
in this field. A growing class of environmental problems,
because they are regional or global in extent or because
they affect the common international realm, will require
extensive cooperation among nations and action by
international organizations in the common interest.
The Conference calls upon Governments and peoples to
exert common efforts for the preservation and improvement of
the human environment, for the benefit of all the people and
for their posterity.
Principles
States the common conviction that:
Principle 1
Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and
adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality
that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears
a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the
environment for present and future generations. In this
respect, policies promoting or perpetuating apartheid,
racial segregation, discrimination, colonial and other forms
of oppression and foreign domination stand condemned and
must be eliminated.
Principle 2
The natural resources of the earth, including the air,
water, land, flora and fauna and especially representative
samples of natural ecosystems, must be safeguarded for the
benefit of present and future generations through careful
planning or management, as appropriate.
Principle 3
The capacity of the earth to produce vital renewable
resources must be maintained and, wherever practicable,
restored or improved.
Principle 4
Man has a special responsibility to safeguard and wisely
manage the heritage of wildlife and its habitat, which are
now gravely imperilled by a combination of adverse factors.
Nature conservation, including wildlife, must therefore
receive importance in planning for economic development.
Principle 5
The non-renewable resources of the earth must be employed
in such a way as to guard against the danger of their future
exhaustion and to ensure that benefits from such employment
are shared by all mankind.
Principle 6
The discharge of toxic substances or of other substances
and the release of heat, in such quantities or
concentrations as to exceed the capacity of the environment
to render them harmless, must be halted in order to ensure
that serious or irreversible damage is not inflicted upon
ecosystems. The just struggle of the peoples of ill
countries against pollution should be supported.
Principle 7
States shall take all possible steps to prevent pollution
of the seas by substances that are liable to create hazards
to human health, to harm living resources and marine life,
to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate
uses of the sea.
Principle 8
Economic and social development is essential for ensuring
a favorable living and working environment for man and for
creating conditions on earth that are necessary for the
improvement of the quality of life.
Principle 9
Environmental deficiencies generated by the conditions of
under-development and natural disasters pose grave problems
and can best be remedied by accelerated development through
the transfer of substantial quantities of financial and
technological assistance as a supplement to the domestic
effort of the developing countries and such timely
assistance as may be required.
Principle 10
For the developing countries, stability of prices and
adequate earnings for primary commodities and raw materials
are essential to environmental management, since economic
factors as well as ecological processes must be taken into
account.
Principle 11
The environmental policies of all States should enhance
and not adversely affect the present or future development
potential of developing countries, nor should they hamper
the attainment of better living conditions for all, and appropriate
steps should be taken by States and international
organizations with a view to reaching agreement on meeting
the possible national and international economic
consequences resulting from the application of environmental
measures.
Principle 12
Resources should be made available to preserve and
improve the environment, taking into account the
circumstances and particular requirements of developing
countries and any costs which may emanate- from their
incorporating environmental safeguards into their
development planning and the need for making available to
them, upon their request, additional international technical
and financial assistance for this purpose.
Principle 13
In order to achieve a more rational management of
resources and thus to improve the environment, States should
adopt an integrated and coordinated approach to their
development planning so as to ensure that development is
compatible with the need to protect and improve environment
for the benefit of their population.
Principle 14
Rational planning constitutes an essential tool for
reconciling any conflict between the needs of development
and the need to protect and improve the environment.
Principle 15
Planning must be applied to human settlements and
urbanization with a view to avoiding adverse effects on the
environment and obtaining maximum social, economic and
environmental benefits for all. In this respect projects
which arc designed for colonialist and racist domination
must be abandoned.
Principle 16
Demographic policies which are without prejudice to basic
human rights and which are deemed appropriate by Governments
concerned should be applied in those regions where the rate
of population growth or excessive population concentrations
are likely to have adverse effects on the environment of the
human environment and impede development.
Principle 17
Appropriate national institutions must be entrusted with
the task of planning, managing or controlling the 9
environmental resources of States with a view to enhancing
environmental quality.
Principle 18
Science and technology, as part of their contribution to
economic and social development, must be applied to the
identification, avoidance and control of environmental risks
and the solution of environmental problems and for the
common good of mankind.
Principle 19
Education in environmental matters, for the younger
generation as well as adults, giving due consideration to
the underprivileged, is essential in order to broaden the
basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by
individuals, enterprises and communities in protecting and
improving the environment in its full human dimension. It is
also essential that mass media of communications avoid
contributing to the deterioration of the environment, but,
on the contrary, disseminates information of an educational
nature on the need to project and improve the environment in
order to enable mal to develop in every respect.
Principle 20
Scientific research and development in the context of
environmental problems, both national and multinational,
must be promoted in all countries, especially the developing
countries. In this connection, the free flow of up-to-date
scientific information and transfer of experience must be
supported and assisted, to facilitate the solution of
environmental problems; environmental technologies should be
made available to developing countries on terms which would
encourage their wide dissemination without constituting an
economic burden on the developing countries.
Principle 21
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations and the principles of international law, the
sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to
their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to
ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control
do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of
areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
Principle 22
States shall cooperate to develop further the
international law regarding liability and compensation for
the victims of pollution and other environmental damage
caused by activities within the jurisdiction or control of
such States to areas beyond their jurisdiction.
Principle 23
Without prejudice to such criteria as may be agreed upon
by the international community, or to standards which will
have to be determined nationally, it will be essential in
all cases to consider the systems of values prevailing in
each country, and the extent of the applicability of
standards which are valid for the most advanced countries
but which may be inappropriate and of unwarranted social
cost for the developing countries.
Principle 24
International matters concerning the protection and
improvement of the environment should be handled in a
cooperative spirit by all countries, big and small, on an
equal footing.
Cooperation through multilateral or bilateral
arrangements or other appropriate means is essential to
effectively control, prevent, reduce and eliminate adverse
environmental effects resulting from activities conducted in
all spheres, in such a way that due account is taken of the
sovereignty and interests of all States.
Principle 25
States shall ensure that international organizations play
a coordinated, efficient and dynamic role for the protection
and improvement of the environment.
Principle 26
Man and his environment must be spared the effects of
nuclear weapons and all other means of mass destruction.
States must strive to reach prompt agreement, in the
relevant international organs, on the elimination and
complete destruction of such weapons.
21st plenary meeting
16 June 1972
Chapter 11
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