Conventions, Acts, Bodies, Treaties and Protocols

Conventions, Acts, Bodies, Treaties and Protocols

What is a Convention?

Convention is basically a guideline or framework in which the parties decide the basic guidelines (outer skeleton) without delving into the painstaking details. A convention begins as an international meeting of representatives from many nations that results in general agreement about procedures or actions they will take on specific topics.

• A protocol to the convention is where the parties set specific aims or legal obligations.
• While a Convention encourages the parties to meet the goals, a Protocol commits them to do so.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

It is applicable specifically for those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification  particularly in Africa. To combat desertification and mitigate (decline or decrease) the effects of drought through national action programs.

It incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangement. So basically it is based on principles of participation, partnership and decentralisation and addresses arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas known as dry land where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and people can found.

At present, 13 million hectare land becomes unproductive via desertification with a potential of producing 20 million tons of foodgrain, affecting some 1.5 billion people worldwide. It is the first and only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of desertification.

In 2007, 10 year strategy of the UNCCD (2008-2018) was adopted with following aim: "To forge a global partnership to reverse and prevent desertification/land degradation and to mitigate the effects of drought in affected areas in order to support poverty reduction and environmental sustainability".

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 9CMS) aka Bonn convention, 1983

First of all, whenever there is a convention by name of a place you should know where it is.

Place on bank of River Rhine, Germany: It aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range.

It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale.

• Appendix I includes - Threatened Migratory Species
• Appendix II includes - Migratory Species requiring international cooperation.

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar (city in Iran where it was ratified in 1971) Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value.

• Definition of wetland is "areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters". It includes more than 2000 wetlands worldwide. Wetlands are one of the most threatened of all ecosystems in India.

The major causes are:

• Loss of vegetation
• Salinization
• Excessive inundation
• Water Pollution
• Invasive species
• Excessive Development and Road Building

Important Wetlands of India are:

• Ashtamudi Wetland: KERALA
• Vembanad-Kol Wetland: KERALA
• Chilika Lake: ORISSA
• Keoladeo National Park: RAJASTHAN
• Loktak lake: MANIPUR
• Sambhar Lake: RAJASTHAN
• Wular Lake: JAMMU AND KASHMIR

So these (above listed) are the most famous wetlands in India.

The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

Came into effect in 1988 to protect the ozone layer. It does not include legally reduction goals for the use of CFCs the main chemical agents causing ozone depletion. These are laid out in the accompanying Montreal Protocol.

Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.

Since the Montreal Protocol came into effect, the atmospheric concentrations of the most important chlorofluorocarbons and related chlorinated hydrocarbons have either levelled off or decreased. Due to this, the ozone hole in Antarctica is slowly recovering. Climate projections indicate that the ozone layer will return to 1980 levels between 2050 and 2070.

Montreal Protocol Includes:

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) Phase-out Management Plan
• Hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP)

It does not deal with Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs): Produced mostly in development countries, HFCs replaced CFCs and HCFCs. HFCs pose no harm to the ozone layer because, unlike CFCs and HCFCs, they do not contain chlorine.

• HFCs are extremely potent greenhouse gases.

The Montreal Protocol does not address HFCs, but these substances figure in the basket of six greenhouse gases under the Kyoto protocol. Developed countries following the Kyoto Protocol report their HFC emission data to UNFCCC; parties to the Montreal Protocol have no such obligation.

Perhaps the single most successful international agreement till date. The two ozone treaties have been ratified by 197 parties, which includes 196 states and the European Union, making them the first universally ratified treaties in United Nations history.

Minamata (Japan) Convention on Mercury

An international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.

In 1956, Large-scale public health crises occurred due to mercury poisoning, such as Minamata disease (neurological disease causing symptoms of ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision, and damage to hearing and speech, paralysis and even death). Place in Japan, within 50 years Minamata became an official Japanese Eco-town in 2001.

Geneva Protocol

Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva protocol). It is a treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts.

It prohibits the useof "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices" and "bacteriological methods of warfare". Specific treaties like the 1972 biological Weapon Convention (BWC) and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) also covers it in exhaustive details.

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

POPs: Chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment.

Exception: DDT is allowed to used publicity for control of malaria.

Developed countries provide new and additional financial resources and measures to eliminate production and use of intentionally produced POPs, eliminate unintentionally produced POPs where feasible, and manage and dispose of POPs wastes in an environmentally friendly manner.

Rotterdam Convention

Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. Multilateral treaty to promote shared responsibilities in relation to importation of hazardous chemicals.

The convention promotes open exchange of information and calls on exporters of hazardous chemicals to use proper labelling, include directions on safe handling, and inform purchasers of any known restrictions or bans. Signatory nations can decide whether to allow or ban the importation of chemicals listed in the treaty, and exporting countries are obligated to make sure that producers within their jurisdiction comply.

Canada refused o allow the addition of chrysotile asbestos fibers to the Rotterdam Convention. But now they say will not oppose its inclusion in  future meetings.

Basel Convention

Earlier known as Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. It is specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste to less developed countries (LDCs).

It is to minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist LDCs in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.

Also deals with Electronic waste which describes discarded electrical or electronic devices like mobile phones, television sets, and refrigerators. CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes), may contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, or brominated flame retardants.

Criticism: It does not address the movement of radioactive waste.

Convention on Long-Range Trans boundary Air pollution (CLRTAP)

aka Air Pollution Convention and it is intended to protect the human environment against air pollution and to gradually reduce and prevent air pollution, including long-rand trans boundary air pollution. Few of the Convention are banned/eliminated under these conventions (Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm, CLRTAP) include Aldrin, Chlordane, Hexachlorobenzene, Lindane, Heptachlor etc.