Urgesthe international community and the organizations of the United Nations system to strengthen international co-operation in the fields of environment, rational utilization of natural resources and preservation of adequate ecological balance;
2
Requeststhe Secretary-General, the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the other bodies established to advise and assist the Secretary-General in the preparations for the Conference to ensure that in the exercise of their responsibilities the documentation to be submitted to participating States and, in particular, the action plan and the action proposals for each of the main subject areas, as well as the draft Declaration on the Human Environment, be elaborated in such a manner as to take into full account the provisions embodied in the preamble and in the operative paragraphs of the present resolution;
3
Reaffirms that it is important for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment to take
fully into account the interests of the developing countries and, in this context, endorses the vriews expressed in part three, section A.VII, of the Declaration and Principles of the Action Programme adopted at Lima on 7 November 1971 by the Second Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Seventy-seven Developing Countries;51
4
Stresses that both the action plan and the action proposals to be submitted to the Undted Nations Conference on the Human Environment must, inter alia:
a
Respect fully the exercise of permanent sovereignty over natural resources, as well as the right of each country to exploit its own resources in accordance with its own priorities and needs and in such a manner as to avoid producing harmful effects on other countries;
( b) Recognize that no environmental policy should adversely affect the present or future development possibilities of the developing countries;
c
Recognize further that the burden of the environmental policies of the developed countries cannot be transferred, directly or indirectly, to the developing countries;
( d) Respect fully the sovereign right of each country to plan its own economy, to define its own priorities, to determine its own environmental standards and criteria, to evaluate its own social costs of production, and to formulate its own environmental policies, in the full understanding that environmental action must be defined basically at the national level, in accordance with locally prevailing conditions and in such a manner as to avoid producing harmful effects on other countries;
( e) A void any adverse effects of environmental policies and measures on the economy of the developing countries in all spheres, including dnternational trade, international development assistance and the transfer of technology;
5
Further stresses that the action plan and the action proposals should include measures:
a
To promote programmes of training, applied research and exchange of information, with the objective of amplifying and disseminating knowledge of questions pertaining to the preservation and improvement of environmental conditions, to an adequate re- Iationship between environmental policies and development policies, and to the question of comparative costs of different technologies in relation to the environment;
( b) To provide additional technical assistance and financial resources, beyond the targets indicated in the International Development Strategy, to enable developing countries to enforce those measures and policies acceptable to them in such a manner as to ensure that no action is defined or proposed without the proper means of implementation;
( c) To give special attention to the particular problems and conditions of the environment of the landlocked and least developed among the develo{)ing countries;
d
To promote programmes designed to assist developing countries, at their request, in solving environmental problems which have their origin in nature itself, which are the direct consequence of under-development and which particularly affect the living conditions of the population of developing countries;
r,1 See A/C.2/270 and Corr. 1.
e
To study with special attention the environmental problems and conditions of the countries with coastlines particularly exposed to the risks of marine pollution;
f
To promote international co-operation in order to prevent eliminate or at least adequately reduce and effectively 'control adverse ecological effects resulting from activities conducted in all spheres, in such a way that due account will be taken of the interests of all States;
6
Urgesthe States possessing nuclear weapons to put an end to the testing of those weapons in all spheres and, also in the context of measures designed to improve environmental conditions on a world-wide basis, stresses the necessity of prohibiting the production and use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and of ensuring their early destruction;
7
Further urgesMember States, the United Nations system and other international organizations which deal with ecological problems to plan international co-operation in the field of the environment, taking into particular account the need for increased technical and financial assistance to the developing countries to help them improve their ecological conditions, both in rural and urban areas;
8
Indicates the advisability of the ri.nternational financial institutions being enabled, without affecting adversely their operations in other spheres, to consider favourably the increase in the volume and the softening of the terms of their economic assistance to the developing countries for the planning and implementation of projects which, in the exclusive judgement of those countries, might be desirable and which, in their view, might be justifiable on environmental terms;
9
Requeststhe Secretary-General to submit a report to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment after ascertaining the views of Member States, on a 'scheme of voluntary contributions which would provide additional financing by the developed countries to the developing countries for environmental purposes, beyond the resources already contemplated in the International Development Strategy;
10
Requeststhe Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to prepare a comprehensive study, to be submitted to the Conference at its third session, on the effects of environmental policies of developed countries which might adversely affect the present or future development possibilities of developing countries, by means of, inter alia:
a
A decrease in the flow of international development assistance and a deterioration of its terms and conditions;
( b) A further deterioration in the trading prospects of developing countries by the creation of additional obstacles, such as the new non-tariff measures, which might lead to a new type of protectionism;
11
Reiterates the primacy of independent economic and social development as the main and paramount objective of international co-operation, in the interests of the welfare of mankind and of peace and world security.
20 December 1971.
ANNEX Essential elements of the Strategy Statement on Action to Avert the Protein Crisis in the Developing Countries
Make every effort to increase the production of food crops, particularly through the exploitation of new high-yield varieties, bearing in mind the special need for an expanded production of protein-rich pulses and oilseeds;
Encourage accelerated and expanded research designed to improve the nutritive value of cereal proteins through genetic engineering;
Encourage accelerated and expanded research designed to develop high-yielding pulses, legumes and oilseed crops;
Encourage the increased production of animal proteins, particularly through research on increasing forage yields and production;
Make every effort to prevent an unnecessary loss of protein-containing foods in field, storage, transport and home;
Encourage increased production from marine and freshwater fishery resources;
Encourage the development, distribution and promotion of formulated protein foods;
Facilitate the application of science and technology to the development of new protein sources in order to supplement conventional food resources;
Develop and support regional and national centres for research and training in agricultural technology, food science, food technology and nutrition;
Conduct informational and educational campaigns related to protein production and consumption;
1 1. Improve protein utilization through the control and prevention of infectious diseases;
Review and improve policies, legislation and regulations regarding all aspects of food and protein production, processing and marketing so as to remove unnecessary obstacles and encourage appropriate activities;
Give special attention to the protein needs of vulnerable groups;
Initiate intervention programmes aimed at ensuring that vulnerable groups will receive the most appropriate type and a sufficient quantity of food by the most effective means;
Recognize the important relationships between family size, population growth and the protein problem;
Recognize the role of economic development and social modernization in solving the protein problem.
r.o See A/CONF.48/PC/ 13 and Corr. I, chap. III.
53 Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 3 (A/8403).
