Number: 1992-15
WHEREAS, the U.S. delegation to UNCED, in contrast to the attitude of cooperation by the other industrialized countries, continues to resist any effort to reach meaningful agreements in the negotiations for UNCED and the treaty on climate change, on issues such as the reduction of CO2 emissions, and the elimination of toxic waste exports, citing an unwillingness to sacrifice the “American lifestyle”; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. delegation has obstructed agreement on a code of conduct for biotechnology research and use; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. delegation’s non-committal posture on these and other UNCED issues constitutes a major barrier to gaining concessions by other countries on certain issues, such as public participation and forest conservation, which the U.S. delegation professes to support; and
WHEREAS, according to the Inter-American Development Bank, sustainable development “distributes the benefits of economic progress more equitably, protects local and global environments for future generations and truly improves the quality of life”, and is in the interest of both developing and industrialized countries; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation and other environmental groups have long believed that sustainable development can be accomplished only through the democratization of environment and development policy-making which allows local groups to participate in the decision-making processes that affect their lives and their regions; and
WHEREAS, most of the funding needed to implement the new commitments which should arise from UNCED will have to come from the industrialized countries; and
WHEREAS, environmental groups from around the world have demanded that any post-UNCED funds be channeled through agencies which provide public access to planning documents, and assure local public participation in decision-making processes regarding development goals and individual projects; and
WHEREAS, the World Bank’s Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is being considered by the U.S. as the main channel to handle these funds, yet neither the World Bank or the GEF are currently qualified under the above criteria;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1992, in Portland, Oregon, urges President Bush to attend the UNCED conference, to instruct his UNCED negotiating team to cease its “damage control” approach to the negotiations, and instead to take a leadership role in pushing forward tougher and stronger agreements on all the UNCED issues including energy use reductions, toxic waste trade elimination, the establishment of a code of conduct for biotechnology research and use; and that it work cooperatively towards the creation of an Earth Charter, and commit to attainment, in the decades to come, of sustainable patterns of industrial and agricultural production and natural resource consumption; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon the President to commit to reduce CO2 emissions from the United States to 20 percent below 1988 levels by the year 2000; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that since the U.S. is the largest contributor to the World Bank, the National Wildlife Federation asks the Congress and the Treasury Department to delay all contributions to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) until: there is full public access to documentation and opportunity to comment on all GEF and World Bank projects; the GEF adopts formal procedures for discussing proposed projects with the affected public in recipient countries; outside independent monitoring and evaluation procedures are established.