Law and You > Environmental Laws > Rio Declaration, 1992

Twenty years after Stockholm, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro from 3rd to 14th June 1992 with the goal of establishing a new and equitable global partnership through the creation of new levels of co-operation 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 and recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, our home. ‘The Earth Summit’, as it was called adopted the ‘Rio Declaration’ and an action plan of 40 chapters called Agenda 21 was adopted by over 100 Nations. Agenda 21 was geared towards achieving Sustainable Development in the 21st century. This conference was a landmark event in global environmental diplomacy, building upon the foundation laid by the 1972 Stockholm Conference. The Rio Declaration set out 27 principles intended to guide countries toward sustainable development and balance environmental protection with economic growth.

Principles of Rio Declaration:

The Rio Declaration on Environment comprises a proclamation of 27 principles and submission of recommendations. Some of the important principles relating to environmental protection in the Rio declaration are as follows:-

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.
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.
3. The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.
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.
5. All States and all people shall co-operate 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.
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.
7. States shall co-operate 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.
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.
9. States should co-operate 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.
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.
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.
12. States should co-operate 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.
13. States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage. States shall also co-operate 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.
14. States should effectively co-operate 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
20. Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.
21. The creativity, ideas, 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.
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.
23. The environment and natural resources of people under oppression, domination, and occupation shall be protected.
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 co-operate in its further development, as necessary.
25. Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible.
26. States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
27. States and people shall co-operate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership in the fulfillment of the principles embodied in this Declaration and in the further development of international law in the field of sustainable development.

Outcomes and Significance of Rio Declaration:

The Rio Declaration was a key element of the 1992 Earth Summit, which produced several other important outcomes and agreements, including:

• Agenda 21: A comprehensive plan of action to achieve sustainable development globally, nationally, and locally.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): A global agreement to address climate change, laying the foundation for future agreements like the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2015).
• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): A legally binding treaty aimed at conserving biological diversity, promoting sustainable use of its components, and ensuring fair benefit-sharing from genetic resources.
• Forest Principles: A non-legally binding statement of principles for the sustainable management of forests.

The Rio Summit Follow up:

The Rio Summit was followed by several other Conferences to focus on ‘Sustainable Development’. These include conferences like the “Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States” in Barbados in 1994: “The World Summit on Social Development” in Copenhagen in 1995: “The Fourth World Conference on Women”, Beijing 1995; and the “Second UN Conference on Human Settlements, Habitat II”, Istanbul in 1996.

The focus was on following the path of ‘Sustainable Development’ in all countries in all parts of the ecosystem whether on land, water or air. The effort has also been an all-inclusive development that reaches all sections of the population with a special focus on the vulnerable sections like women, children or the marginalized.

A five-year review of the progress of the ‘Earth Summit’ was held in 1997 by the United Nations General Assembly. This was followed by a ten-year review in 2002 by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The WSSD was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. It urged the Nations to make progress in the formulation and implementation of strategies for sustainable development and to begin implementing them by 2005.

Other Important Decisions and Agreements:

The following is a brief overview of some significant decisions and agreements that were reached by various countries:

• Delhi Mandate: In 2004, Delhi Mandates the use of compressed natural gas in city buses and auto rickshaws, responding to rising civil society pressure over air pollution.
• Kyoto Protocol: In 2005, the Kyoto Protocol enters into an agreement which legally bound the developed countries to go for greenhouse gas emission reductions and establishing the Clean Development Mechanism for developing countries.
• Montreal Protocol: In 2007, the Montreal Protocol was signed on Substances that deplete the ‘Ozone Layer’. Countries agreed to an accelerated phase-out schedule for hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). NASA has reported that the ‘ozone layer’ is recovering, in part due to reduced concentrations of CFCs, phased out under the ‘Montreal Protocol’.
• Copenhagen Summit: In 2009, Copenhagen climate negotiations were held. However, the participating countries failed to reach an agreement on new emissions reductions commitments beyond 2012 (the end of the ‘Kyoto Protocol’ time frame). An important outcome was that thrust now shifted towards national and regional efforts to reduce emissions.
• G20 Pittsburgh Summit: In 2009, the G20 Pittsburgh Summit was held. Leaders called for making fossil fuel like petrol and diesel more expensive in order to phase them out. They also agreed to provide targeted support for the poorest people.
• Durban Summit: In 2011, climate change negotiations were held in Durban. The negotiations’ outcome was a step forward in establishing an international agreement beyond Kyoto. It was agreed to cut carbon emissions in all countries, including developed countries and several major developing countries. 
• Doha Conference: The 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Doha. It was agreed to extend the ‘Kyoto Protocol’ that was to end in 2012 to 2020. It was also agreed to renegotiate the agreement reached in Durban by 2015 and to implement it by 2020.

Conclusion:

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) was a landmark in global environmental governance, reinforcing and expanding upon the ideas of sustainable development first introduced in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration. By establishing 27 principles, it created a comprehensive framework for balancing environmental protection with economic development, emphasizing the importance of integrating these two goals to meet the needs of both present and future generations.

The Rio Declaration underscored the need for sustainable development, where economic growth and environmental conservation are pursued together. It highlighted that development must be inclusive, equitable, and environmentally sound. Central to the Declaration is the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), which acknowledges the different capacities of countries to address environmental challenges based on their historical contributions to environmental degradation and their development needs. This principle remains one of the most influential and debated concepts in international environmental agreements. The precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle introduced in the Rio Declaration have had a profound impact on environmental policymaking, stressing preventive action and accountability in environmental degradation. The Declaration emphasized the importance of public participation, access to environmental information, and transparency in decision-making processes. This recognition of the role of civil society and local communities in environmental governance has fostered more inclusive approaches to addressing global environmental issues. The Rio Declaration reaffirmed the importance of international cooperation in addressing environmental problems that transcend national borders, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Thus, the Rio Declaration served as a foundational document that shaped the global approach to environmental protection and sustainable development for decades to come. It provided a clear set of principles guiding countries on how to approach environmental governance in a more holistic, inclusive, and sustainable manner. The concepts and principles established in Rio continue to influence international environmental agreements, policies, and national development plans, making it a cornerstone of modern sustainable development efforts. The Declaration’s legacy is seen in major international treaties like the Paris Agreement on climate change and ongoing efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Related Topics:

• Environment and its Pollution
• Stockholm Declaration
• Sustainable Development
• Intergenerational Equity Principle
• Precautionary Principle
• Polluter Pays Principle
• Public Trust Doctrine
• Principles of Equity and Equality

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