Earth Summit II

The Other Summit

Ombudsman

Since Rio

Population and Sustainable Development

One Year After Cairo

Cairo/Rio Survey

Shrimp Tribunal

Four in '94

Unleaded Gasoline

Earth Summit II

 

The Other Earth Summit II - Many Governments, NGOs and the media were disappointed with the results of the June 1997 session in New York, but they overlooked "The Other Earth Summit II’ - where each country, 46 of which were represented by their Head of State or Government, made a brief speech. From our examination of more than 120 of these statements emerges a much more positive picture of many nations working in diverse ways towards achieving sustainable development at home. We have prepared a country-by-country list of concrete actions taken since Rio and commitments for the future.

International Environmental Ombudsman - The extraordinary growth of the international environmental agenda has left governments over-committed and many, particularly those in developing countries, simply unable to comply with their obligations. Existing mechanisms to ensure treaty implementation are inadequate. To address this "implementation gap", Earth Summit Watch is proposing the establishment of a new mechanism which would empower the public to hold their own governments accountable for failure to comply with treaty commitments: an International Environmental Ombudsman.

What Have We Achieved Since Rio? - Earth Summit Watch has briefly reviewed efforts over the last five years in regard to some key areas: climate change treaty, biodiversity treaty, forests, Agenda 21, and funding. Our bottomline is that there has been a lot of international institutional development, dialogue and debate -and not much concrete improvement of environmental conditions. One bright spot we document is the real progress that has been achieved on the global phaseout of leaded gasoline.

One Year After Cairo
Assessing National Action to implement the International Conference on Population and Development of 65 Country-by-Country progress reports: This survey covers efforts made by Governments since the September 1994 ICPD in Cairo to report to their nation on the results of the conference, to establish a structure forimplementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, to undertake specific initiatives and provide new resources, to involve non-governmental organizations, and to satisfy the demand for family planning services.

Cairo/Rio Survey

In February 1997, Earth Summit Watch began broad distribution of a questionnaire on national implementation of commtiments to population, environment, and development. This survey seeks information on efforts governments are making to implement the Cairo Programme of Action, to ensure safe drinking water, to monitor and evaluate the quality of reproductive health care programs, and to integrate population into policy-making and public information. We have prepared an initial report based on this work, entitled "Clearing the Water: A New Paradigm for Providing the World's Growing Population with Safe Drinking Water".

Shrimp Sentinel Online - Starting July 1998

At the 1996 and 1997 meetings of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, Earth Summit Watch held sessions of the "Shrimp Tribunal" as a dialogue with Governments on the sustainability of shrimp trawling and farming. The Shrimp Sentinel Online is an electronic evolution of those sessions and provides a forum for information, analysis, and points-of-view on the efforts to address the environmental and social impacts of shrimp production in various nations.

Four in '94
Accessing National Actions to implement Agenda 21 - Seventy-two Country-By-Country progress reports: This 1994 survey covers efforts to create establish national Agenda 21s or sustainable development strategies. It also compiles information on national policies and programs to address four "indicators of action" issues: lead, freshwater, hazardous wastes, and pristine rivers.

Global Phaseout of Leaded Gasoline
The release of the Four in '94 report at the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development lead to a call for a global phase-out of leaded gasoline. In Spring 1997, Earth Summit Watch compiled this report on steps that 31 countries have taken over the last three years to move toward the use of unleaded gasoline.