Energy

42. Energy is essential to economic and social development and improved quality of life. However, sustainable patterns of production, distribution and use of energy are crucial. Fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) will continue to dominate the energy supply situation for many years to come in most developed and developing countries. What is required then is to reduce the environmental impact of their continued development, and to reduce local health hazards and environmental pollution through enhanced international cooperation notably in the provision of concessional finance for capacity development and transfer of the relevant technology, and through appropriate national action. 

43. In developing countries sharp increases in energy services are required to improve the standard of living of their growing populations. The increase in the level of energy services would have a beneficial impact on poverty eradication by increasing employment opportunities and improving transportation, health and education. Many developing countries, in particular the least developed, face the urgent need to provide adequate modern energy services, especially to billions of people in rural areas. This requires significant financial, human and technical resources and a broad- based mix of energy sources. 

44. The objectives envisaged in this section should reflect the need for equity, adequate energy supplies and increasing energy consumption in developing countries and should take into account the situation of countries that are highly dependent on income generated from the production, processing and export, and/or consumption of fossil fuels and that have serious difficulties in switching to alternative sources of energy, and the situation of countries highly vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change.

 45. Advances towards sustainable energy use are taking place and all parties can benefit from progress made in other countries. It is also necessary to ensure international cooperation for promoting energy conservation and improvement of energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy and research, and the development and dissemination of innovative energy-related technology. 

46. Therefore there is a need for: 

(a) A movement towards sustainable patterns of production, distribution and use of energy. To advance this work at the intergovernmental level, the Commission on Sustainable Development will discuss energy issues at its ninth session. Noting the vital role of energy in the continuation of sustained economic growth, especially for developing countries, be they importers or suppliers of energy, and recognizing the complexities and interdependencies inherent in addressing energy issues within the context of sustainable development, preparations for this session should be initiated at the seventh session and should utilize an open-ended intergovernmental group of experts on energy and sustainable development to be held in conjunction with inter- sessional meetings of the eighth and ninth sessions of the Commission. In line with the objectives of Agenda 21, the ninth session of the Commission should contribute to a sustainable energy future for all; 

(b) Evolving concrete measures to strengthen international cooperation in order to assist developing countries in their domestic efforts to provide adequate modern energy services, especially electricity, to all sections of their population, particularly in rural areas, in an environmentally sound manner; 

(c) Countries, bearing in mind the specific needs and priorities of developing countries, to promote policies and plans that take into account the economic, social and environmental aspects of the production, distribution and use of energy, including the use of lower pollutant sources of energy such as natural gas; 

(d) Evolving commitments for the transfer of relevant technology, including time-bound commitments, as appropriate, to developing countries and economies in transition so as to enable them to increase the use of renewable energy sources and cleaner fossil fuels and to improve efficiency in energy production, distribution and use. Countries need to systematically increase the use of renewable energy sources according to their specific social, economic, natural, geographical and climatic conditions and cleaner fuel technologies, including fossil fuel technologies, and to improve efficiency in energy production, distribution and use and in other industrial production processes that are intensive users of energy; 

(e) Promoting efforts in research on and development and use of renewable energy technologies at the international and national levels; 

(f) In the context of fossil fuels, encouraging further research, development, and the application and transfer of technology of a cleaner and more efficient nature, through effective international support; 

(g) Encouraging Governments and the private sector to consider appropriate ways to gradually promote environmental cost internalization so as to achieve more sustainable use of energy, taking fully into account the economic, social and environmental conditions of all countries, in particular developing countries. In this regard, the international community should cooperate to minimize the possible adverse impacts on the development process of developing countries resulting from the implementation of those policies and measures. There is also a need to encourage the reduction and the gradual elimination of subsidies for energy production and consumption that inhibit sustainable development. Such policies should take fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries, particularly least developed countries, as reflected in the special and differential treatment accorded them in the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures; 

(h) Encouraging better coordination on the issue of energy within the United Nations system, under the guidance of the General Assembly and taking into account the coordinating role of ECOSOC. 

Radioactive Wastes

59. Radioactive wastes can have very serious environmental and human health impacts over long periods of time. Therefore, it is essential that they be managed in a safe and responsible way. The storage, transportation, transboundary movement and disposal of radioactive wastes should be guided by all the principles of the Rio Declaration, and by Agenda 21. States which generate radioactive wastes have a responsibility to ensure their safe storage and disposal. In general, radioactive wastes should be disposed of in the territory of the State in which they are generated as far as is compatible with the safety of the management of such material. Each country has a responsibility to ensure that radioactive wastes that fall within its jurisdiction are managed properly in accordance with internationally accepted principles, taking fully into account any transboundary effects. The international community should make all efforts to prohibit the export of radioactive wastes to those countries that do not have appropriate waste treatment and storage facilities. The international community also recognizes that regional arrangements or jointly used facilities might be appropriate for the disposal of such wastes in certain circumstances. The management 24/ of radioactive wastes should be undertaken in a manner consistent with international law, including the provisions of relevant international and regional conventions and with internationally accepted standards. It is important to intensify safety measures with regard to radioactive wastes. States, in cooperation with relevant international organizations, where appropriate, should not promote or allow the storage or disposal of high- level, intermediate-level and low-level radioactive wastes near the marine environment unless they determine that scientific evidence, consistent with the applicable internationally agreed principles and guidelines, shows that such storage or disposal poses no unacceptable risk to people or the marine environment and does not interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea. In the process of the consideration of that evidence, appropriate application of the precautionary approach principle should be made. Further action is needed by the international community to address the need for enhancing awareness of the importance of safe management of radioactive wastes, and to ensure the prevention of incidents and accidents involving the uncontrolled release of such wastes. 

60. One of the main recommendations of Agenda 21 and of the Commission on Sustainable Development at its second session in this area was to support the ongoing efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other relevant international organizations. The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management currently being negotiated under the auspices of IAEA is now close to completion. It will provide a comprehensive codification of international law and a guide to best practices in this area. It will rightly be based on all the principles of best practice for this subject that have evolved in the international community, including the principle that, in general, radioactive wastes should be disposed of in the State in which they were generated as far as is compatible with the safety of the management of such material. Governments should finalize this text and are urged to ratify and implement it as soon as possible so as to further improve practice and strengthen safety in this area. Transportation of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF) and high-level waste by sea should be guided by the INF Code, which should be considered for development into a mandatory instrument. The issue of potential transboundary environmental effects of activities related to the management of radioactive wastes and the question of prior notification, relevant information and consultation with States that could potentially be affected by such effects, should be further addressed within the appropriate forums. 

61. Increased global and regional cooperation, including exchange of information and experience and transfer of appropriate technologies, is needed to improve the management of radioactive wastes. There is a need to support the clean-up of sites contaminated as a result of all types of nuclear activity and to conduct health studies in the regions around those sites, as appropriate, with a view to identifying where health treatment may be needed and should be provided. Technical assistance should be provided to developing countries, recognizing the special needs of small island developing States in particular, to enable them to develop or improve procedures for the management and safe disposal of radioactive wastes deriving from the use of radionuclides in medicine, research and industry. 

Atmosphere

48. Ensuring that the global climate and atmosphere is not further damaged with irreversible consequences for future generations requires political will and concerted efforts by the international community in accordance with the principles enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under the Convention, some first steps have been taken to deal with the global problem of climate change. Despite the adoption of the Convention, the emission and concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) continue to rise, even as scientific evidence assembled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other relevant bodies continues to diminish the uncertainties and points ever more strongly to the severe risk of global climate change. So far, insufficient progress has been made by many developed countries in meeting their aim to return GHG emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. It is recognized as one critical element of the Berlin Mandate 19/ that the commitments under article 4, paragraph 2 (a) and (b) of the Convention are inadequate and that therefore there is a need to strengthen these commitments. It is most important that the Conference of Parties to the Convention, at its third session, to be held at Kyoto, Japan later in 1997, adopt a protocol or other legal instrument that fully encompasses the Berlin Mandate. The Geneva Ministerial Declaration 20/ which was noted without formal adoption, but which received majority support among ministers and other heads of delegation attending the second session of the Conference of the Parties, also called for, inter alia, the acceleration of negotiations on the text of a legally binding protocol or other legal instrument. 

49. At the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly, the international community confirmed its recognition of the problem of climate change as one of the biggest challenges facing the world in the next century. The leaders of many countries underlined the importance of this in their addresses to the Assembly, and outlined the actions they have in hand both in their own countries and internationally to respond. 

50. The ultimate goal which all countries share is to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. This requires efficient and cost-effective policies and measures that will be sufficient to result in a significant reduction in emissions. At this session, countries reviewed the state of preparations for the third session of the Conference of Parties of the Framework Convention of Climate Change in Kyoto. All are agreed that it is vital that there should be a satisfactory result. 

51. The position of many countries for these negotiations are still evolving, and it was agreed that it would not be appropriate to seek to predetermine the results, although useful interactions on evolving positions took place. 

52. There is already widespread but not universal agreement that it will be necessary to consider legally binding, meaningful, realistic and equitable targets for annex I countries that will result in significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within specified time frames, such as 2005, 2010 and 2020. In addition to establishing targets, there is also widespread agreement that it will be necessary to consider ways and means for achieving them and to take into account the economic, adverse environmental and other effects of such response measures on all countries, particularly developing countries. 

53. International cooperation in the implementation of chapter 9 of Agenda 21, in particular in the transfer of technology to and capacity-building in developing countries, is also essential to promote the effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 54. There is also a need to strengthen systematic observational networks to identify the possible onset and distribution of climate change and assess potential impacts, particularly at the regional level. 

55. The ozone layer continues to be severely depleted and the Montreal Protocol 21/ needs to be strengthened. The Copenhagen Amendment to the Protocol needs to be ratified. The recent successful conclusion of the replenishment negotiations of the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund is welcomed. This has made available funds for, among other things, earlier phase-out of ozone-depleting substances, including methyl bromide, in developing countries. Future replenishment should also be adequate to ensure timely implementation of the Montreal Protocol. An increased focus on capacity-building programmes in developing countries within multilateral funds is also needed, as well as the implementation of effective measures against illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances. 

56. Rising levels of transboundary air pollution should be countered, including through appropriate regional cooperation to reduce pollution levels.