Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

Trade-OffsGlobal Efforts on Environmental ProblemsGood NewsBad NewsEnvironmental protectionagencies in 115 nationsOver 500 internationalenvironmental treaties andagreementsUN Environment Programme(UNEP) created in 1972 tonegotiate and monitorinternational environmentaltreaties1992 Rio Earth Summit adoptedkey principles for dealing withglobal environmental problems2002 Johannesburg EarthSummit attempted to implementpolicies and goals of 1992Rio summit and find ways toreduce povertyMost internationalenvironmental treaties lackcriteria for monitoring andevaluating their effectiveness1992 Rio Earth Summit led tononbinding agreements withoutenough funding to implement themBy 2003 there was littleimprovement in the majorenvironmental problemsdiscussed at the 1992 RioEarth Summit2002 Johannesburg EarthSummit failed to provideadequate goals, deadlines,and funding for dealing withglobal environmental problemssuch as climate change,biodiversity loss, and povertyFigure 27-8 Trade-offs: good and bad news about international efforts to deal with global environmentalproblems. Pick the single piece of good news and the single piece of bad news thatyou think are the most important.SolutionsInternational Environmental TreatiesProblemsTake a long timeto develop andare weakened byrequiring fullconsensusPoorly monitoredand enforcedLack of fundingfor monitoring andenforcementTreaties are notintegrated withone anotherSolutionsDo not require fullconsensus amongregulating partiesEstablishprocedures formonitoring andenforcementIncrease fundingfor monitoring andenforcementHarmonize orintegrate existingagreementsFigure 27-9 Major problems with global environmental treatiesand agreements and solutions to these problems.convention is not protecting climate, the biodiversityconvention is not protecting biodiversity, the desertificationconvention is not preventing desertification”and ...“the Law of the Sea is not protecting fisheries.Nor are they poised to do so in the immediate future.”And protection of the world’s forest has not even“reached the point of a convention.”According to Speth, “Global environmental problemshave gone from bad to worse and governmentsare not yet prepared to deal with them.” However, hedoes cite some success in the protocols on protectingthe ozone layer, the Convention on the Trade inEndangered Species (CITES), and the Ocean DumpingConvention.Speth says that “In general, the issue with majortreaties is not weak enforcement or weak compliance;the issue is weak treaties. These agreements are easyfor governments to slight because their impressivegoals are not followed by clear requirements, targets,and timetables ...and an unwillingness to commitfinancial resources for real incentives.” He says that“international law is still far too dominated by the outmodedconcept that only governments get to play” insteadof following a principle in the 1972 Rio conventionthat “environmental issues are best handled withthe participation of all concerned citizens.”624 CHAPTER 27 Politics, Environment, and Sustainability