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INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FRESHWATER
2003
United Nations A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. I)
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
12 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
THE DUBLIN STATEMENT ON WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND
DEVELOPMENT*
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Annex I
RIO DECLARATION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
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
Environment, adopted at Stockholm on 16 June 1972, a/ and
seeking to build upon
it,
With the goal of establishing a new and equitable global
partnership
through the creation of new levels of cooperation among
States, key sectors of
societies and people,
Working towards international agreements which respect the
interests of
all and protect the integrity of the global environmental and
developmental
system,
Recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the
Earth, our
home,
Proclaims that:
Principle 1
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable
development.
They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony
with nature.
Principle 2
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 and
developmental 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 3
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably
meet
developmental and environmental needs of present and future
generations.
Principle 4
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental
protection
shall constitute an integral part of the development process
and cannot be
considered in isolation from it.
Principle 5
All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential
task of
eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for
sustainable
development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards
of living and
better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the
world.
Principle 6
The special situation and needs of developing countries,
particularly the
least developed and those most environmentally vulnerable,
shall be given
special priority. International actions in the field of
environment and
development should also address the interests and needs of all
countries.
Principle 7
States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to
conserve,
protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's
ecosystem. In view
of the different contributions to global environmental
degradation, States have
common but differentiated responsibilities. The
developed countries
acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the
international pursuit of
sustainable development in view of the pressures their
societies place on the
global environment and of the technologies and financial
resources they
command.
Principle 8
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of
life for all
people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable
patterns of production
and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.
Principle 9
States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous
capacity-building for
sustainable development by improving scientific understanding
through exchanges
of scientific and technological knowledge, and by enhancing
the development,
adaptation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including
new and
innovative technologies.
Principle 10
Environmental issues are best handled with the participation
of all
concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the
national level, each
individual shall have appropriate access to information
concerning the
environment that is held by public authorities, including
information on
hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and
the opportunity
to participate in decision-making processes. States
shall facilitate and
encourage public awareness and participation by making
information widely
available. Effective access to judicial and
administrative proceedings,
including redress and remedy, shall be provided.
Principle 11
States shall enact effective environmental legislation.
Environmental
standards, management objectives and priorities should reflect
the
environmental and developmental context to which they apply.
Standards applied
by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted
economic and social
cost to other countries, in particular developing countries.
Principle 12
States should cooperate to promote a supportive and open
international
economic system that would lead to economic growth and
sustainable development
in all countries, to better address the problems of
environmental degradation.
Trade policy measures for environmental purposes should not
constitute a means
of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised
restriction on
international trade. Unilateral actions to deal with
environmental challenges
outside the jurisdiction of the importing country should be
avoided.
Environmental measures addressing transboundary or global
environmental
problems should, as far as possible, be based on an
international consensus.
Principle 13
States shall develop national law regarding liability and
compensation
for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage.
States shall also
cooperate in an expeditious and more determined manner to
develop further
international law regarding liability and compensation for
adverse effects of
environmental damage caused by activities within their
jurisdiction or control
to areas beyond their jurisdiction.
Principle 14
States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent
the
relocation and transfer to other States of any activities and
substances that
cause severe environmental degradation or are found to be
harmful to human
health.
Principle 15
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary
approach shall be
widely applied by States according to their capabilities.
Where there are
threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full
scientific certainty
shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective
measures to prevent
environmental degradation.
Principle 16
National authorities should endeavour to promote the
internalization of
environmental costs and the use of economic instruments,
taking into account
the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the
cost of
pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without
distorting
international trade and investment.
Principle 17
Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument,
shall be
undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to have a
significant
adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a
decision of a competent
national authority.
Principle 18
States shall immediately notify other States of any natural
disasters or
other emergencies that are likely to produce sudden harmful
effects on the
environment of those States. Every effort shall be made
by the international
community to help States so afflicted.
Principle 19
States shall provide prior and timely notification and
relevant
information to potentially affected States on activities that
may have a
significant adverse transboundary environmental effect and
shall consult with
those States at an early stage and in good faith.
Principle 20
Women have a vital role in environmental management and
development.
Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve
sustainable
development.
Principle 21
The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world
should be
mobilized to forge a global partnership in order to achieve
sustainable
development and ensure a better future for all.
Principle 22
Indigenous people and their communities and other local
communities have
a vital role in environmental management and development
because of their
knowledge and traditional practices. States should
recognize and duly support
their identity, culture and interests and enable their
effective participation
in the achievement of sustainable development.
Principle 23
The environment and natural resources of people under
oppression,
domination and occupation shall be protected.
Principle 24
Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development.
States
shall therefore respect international law providing protection
for the
environment in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its
further
development, as necessary.
Principle 25
Peace, development and environmental protection are
interdependent and
indivisible.
Principle 26
States shall resolve all their environmental disputes
peacefully and by
appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations.
Principle 27
States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a
spirit of
partnership in the fulfilment of the principles embodied in
this Declaration
and in the further development of international law in the
field of sustainable
development.
* * * * *
a/ Report of the United Nations Conference
on the Human Environment,
Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972 (United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.73.II.A.14
and corrigendum), chap. I.
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