From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: UNEP: State of the Environment
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 07:04:57 GMT

/** headlines: 581.0 **/
** Topic: UNEP LAUNCHES 20-YEAR REPORT **
** Written  2:34 pm  Dec 14, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:headlines **
/* Written  9:47 am  Dec 11, 1992 by gn:ipaunep in igc:en.general */
/* ---------- "UNEP LAUNCHES 20-YEAR REPORT" ---------- */
                                   
                                   IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                                   CONTACT: BEATRICE LACOSTE
                                   NAIROBI: 230 800 4498
                                   E-mail:  gn:ipaunep, TCN:UNE012

        STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT - THE BAD NEWS, THE GOOD NEWS


NAIROBI, 11 December 1992 -- "The state of the environment is worse
than it was 20 years ago", said Dr. Mostafa K. Tolba, Executive
Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), during the
launching of a 884-page report entitled "The World Environment 
1972-1992:  Two Decades of Challenge".

The challenges faced by UNEP since 1972, when it was set up in Nairobi
following the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, are
daunting:

Each year 75 billion tons of soil are lost, which means that food
production declines while the world population increases at an alarming
rate:  from 3.6 billion in 1972 it has grown to 5.5 billion today.

Land degradation and desertification threaten the lives of hundreds of
millions of people who suffer from famine and starvation.  Six to seven
million hectares of land are lost every year.

Oceans are not a bottomless sink and fisheries suffer from pollution,
oil slicks and the dumping of waste.

Forest cover is at the lowest level ever and, as it was destroyed,
animals, plants and microorganisms that have evolved over 6 million
years are disappearing.

"We need to change gears.  We need a change of heart", said Dr. Tolba,
who pointed out that it is not enough for Governments to sign
international agreements -- these must be followed by action and
implementation of practical measures to protect the environment.

The good news, however, is that over the past 20 years public awareness
of the magnitude of the problem has grown.

UNEP has initiated international legislation and funding mechanisms to
deal with global problems.

"Governments understand they have to work together -- or sink
together", said Dr. Tolba.  "North must meet South, and East, West --
international cooperation is the only solution."

UNEP has broken new ground in environmental law.  Just two weeks ago a
conference in Denmark on the Montreal Protocol was a milestone.  The
parties made progress in four key areas:  phasing out of CFCs which
deplete the ozone layer, establishing a transition schedule for HCFCs,
including methyl bromide as an ozone-depleting substance and
establishing a permanent fund for technology transfer to developing
countries.

In 1975, UNEP was successful in persuading countries with conflicting
relations like the Arab countries and Israel or the Turks and Greeks in
Cyprus to sit around the same table and agree on measures to protect
their common marine environment, the Mediterranean.

Last week a ministerial conference in Uruguay on the Basel Convention
requested industrialized countries to prohibit transboundary movements
of hazardous wastes and other wastes for disposal to developing
countries and also requested developing countries to prohibit the
import of hazardous wastes from industrialized countries.  So far 36
countries have ratified the Convention which came into force last May.

Other major breakthroughs include the signing of the climate change
convention and the treaty to protect biological diversity.

Dr. Tolba, a microbiologist who has been at the helm of UNEP for the
past 17 years and who will step down at the end of December, believes
the key to success has been to seek the highest scientific expertise
and make sure the science was right before drafting agreements.

"The World Environment 1972-1992:  Two Decades of Challenge" identifies
the major threats, analyses the causes and consequences, suggests a
response and looks to the future.

More than 200 scholars and experts from the international community
were enlisted to contribute. 

This authoritative report will be an invaluable tool to academics and
decision-makers and a useful record for future generations.

                                - 30 -


NOTE:  The World Environment 1972-1992 -- Two decades of challenge,   
       edited by Mostafa K. Tolba and Osama A. El-Kholy, in association 
       with E. El-Hinnawi, M.W. Holdgate, D.F. McMichael and R.E. Munn, 
       and published by Chapman & Hall, on behalf of UNEP.  Price: 65 
       hard cover and 24.95 soft.  ISBN 0-412-47000-4.  The book is  
       available from Chapman & Hall offices in London, Glasgow, New  
       York, Tokyo, Melbourne and Madras.


News Release 1992/46
** End of text from cdp:headlines **

Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive