31. Accordingly, it is recommended that regional organizations give full consideration to each of the following steps:

preparing detailed plans for the study of major environmental problems faced by the countries of the region concerned as well as of the special problems of sub-regional and regional interest of the land locked and least developed countries of the region and of countries with coast lines particularly exposed to the risk of marine pollution;

examining possible administrative, legal and technical solutions, to such problems in terms of both preventive and remedial actions, including alternative approaches to development projects;

increasing and facilitating the flow of information and experience to member countries through global and regional co-operation with particular emphasis on an international information referral centre approach;

establishing facilities for the exchange of information and experience between less industrialized countries which, although situated in different regions share similar problems as a result of common physical, climatic and other factors;

encouraging training of personnel in the techniques of incorporating environmental considerations into developmental planning, and of identifying and analysing the economic and social cost benefit relationships of alternative approaches;

establishing criteria, concepts and a terminology of the human environment through interdisciplinary efforts;

establishing and disseminating information on the significant environmental problems of each region and the nature and result of steps taken to cope with them;

providing and co-ordinating technical assistance activities directed at establishing systems of environmental research, information and analysis at the national level;

assisting developing countries in co-operation with appropriate international agencies, in developing and applying low cost methods for improving health, housing, sanitation and water supply. Emphasis should be devoted to labour intensive measures and methods utilizing local materials.

Response: 31. The Advisory Committee concurs.

(ii) International trade relations

32. In order to ensure that the growing concern with the environment does not lead to major disruptions in international trade, it is recommended that govern. ments take the necessary steps to ensure that:

all countries present at the Conference agree not to invoke environmental concerns as a pretext for discriminatory trade policies or for reduced access to markets and recognize further that the burdens of the environmental policies of the industrialized countries should not be transferred, either directly or indirectly, to the developing countries;

where environmental concerns lead to restrictions on trade, or to stricter environmental standards with negative effects on exports, particularly from de

veloping countries, appropriate measures for compensation should be worked out;

the GATT could be used for the examination of the problems, specifically through the recently established Group on Environmental Measures and International Trade and through its general procedures for bilateral and multilateral adjustment of differences;

whenever possible (i.e. in cases which do not require immediate discontinuation of imports), countries should inform their trading partners in advance about the intended action in order that there might be an opportunity to consult within the GATT Group on Environmental Measures and International Trade. Assistance in meeting consequences of stricter environmental standards ought to be given in the form of financial or technical assistance for research with the aim to remove the obstacles that the products of developing countries have encountered;

all countries agree that uniform environmental standards should not be expected to be applied universally by all countries with respect to given industrial processes or products except in those cases where environmental disruption may constitute a concern to other countries. Environmental standards should be established at whatever levels are necessary, to safeguard the environment and should not be aimed at gaining trade advantages.

Response: 32. The Advisory Committee concurs.

33. It is also recommended that the Secretary-General ensure that:

appropriate steps be taken by the existing UN organizations to identify the major threats to exports that stem from environmental concerns, their character and severity, and the remedial action that may be envisaged;

the United Nations system assist governments in negotiating, in as many areas as possible, mutually acceptable international environmental standards on products so as to reduce the scope for arbitrary or discriminatory actions. Response: 33. The Advisory Committee concurs.

34. It is further recommended that:

GATT and UNCTAD should consider undertaking to monitor, assess and regularly report the emergence of tariff and non tariff barriers to trade as a result of environmental policies.

Response: 34. The Advisory Committee concurs.

(iii) International distribution of industry

35. The need of developing countries to establish certain basic industries (petroleum and chemicals, metal extracting and processing, pulp and paper and others) coincides with a growing concern of industrialized countries for the environmental degradation which rises from heavy concentration of such industries in their countries. These provide a new reason for re-examining the factors which determine the location of industries internationally, and, in turn, opens up new opportunities and new risks for developing countries. The capacity of the natural environment to absorb and dissipate waste without suffering intolerable damage must now be regarded as an economic resource. Since the less industrialized countries have by and large put lighter burdens on their environment re

sources than the industrialized countries and may therefore be able to afford less stringent environmental standards, this could give them a comparative advantage in the establishment of certain new industries. Such new activities could have a significant impact on development through increasing income, productivity and employment which would subsequently increase the ability of the countries concerned to improve the environment. However, countries in considering such opportunities should also take full account of the potential risk of environmental damage which might affect development gains. In many cases it should be possible to avoid or mitigate such risks by adequate planning, locations and use of proper technologies. In order to avoid the indiscriminate import of pollution, developing countries could enforce environmental standards to achieve minimal levels of industrial pollution in the light of their stages of development and of their cultural and social objectives.

36. In the light of the above, it is recommended that:

Governments of the developing countries consider fully the new opportunities which may be offered to them to establish industries in which they may have comparative advantages due to environmental considerations, and that special care be taken in all such instances to avoid the creation of pollution problems. in developing countries;

the Secretary-General in consultation with appropriate international agencies, undertake a full review of the practical implications of environmental concerns in relation to distribution of future industrial capacity and in particular, to ways in which the developing countries may be assisted to take advantage of opportunities and to minimize risks in this area.

Response: 35–36. The Advisory Committee disagrees with the spirit of this initial paragraph which emphasizes the relatively large environmental carrying capacity of a developing country, and the statement that such countries are therefore able to afford less stringent environmental standards. This appears to open the door to possible abuse in the form of "pollution havens". We recommend that these paragraphs be deleted. See this Chapter, Advisory Committee Recommendation 3.

(iv) International financing for environmental action

37. Environmental policies pursued nationally and internationally are likely to have repercussions on flows of resources and other factors affecting development. It is important that the Conference endorse the concept of international responsibility for the international aspects of environmental action. 38. Accordingly, it is recommended that the Secretary-General in collaboration with appropriate international agencies ensure that a study be conducted of appropriate mechanisms for financing international environmental action, taking into account the General Assembly resolution 2849 (XXVI).

Response: 37–38. The Advisory Committee concurs.

39. Recognizing that it is in the interest of all mankind that technologies for protecting and improving the environment be employed as universally as possible it is recommended that the Secretary-General be asked to undertake studies in consultation with governments and appropriate international agencies to study means by which governmental technologies may be made available to developing countries under conditions which encourage their wide distribution.

Response: 39. The Advisory Committee concurs.

(v) International development strategy

40. It is recommended that the Secretary-General (in collaboration with appropriate international agencies) take steps to ensure that the environmental considerations set out here be taken into account during the review and appraisal of the International Development Strategy for the Second Development Decade. Response: 40. The Advisory Committee concurs.

Subcommittee 5

Development and Environment

Mr. John Ross Vincent, Chairman Ecology Center of Louisiana, Inc.

6. Institutional Arrangements

Institutional Arrangements and the Declaration on the Human Environment

INTRODUCTION

Much of the success of the Conference on the Human Environment will be determined by the institutions which it creates. After the Conference is concluded, it will only be through effective organizational arrangements that substantive proposals can have operational reality.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

1. A strong, high-level executive for environmental affairs, with broad terms of reference, should be established in the office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.1

2. A United Nations Voluntary Fund for the Environment, with a minimum annual budget of $100 million, of which $50 million shall be designated for the Division of Human Settlements, to be administered by the environmental executive, should be established.

3. UN environmental activities require an adequate source of funding. Serious consideration should be given to a system of national assessments, based upon each nation's rate of energy consumption.

4. A United Nations Intergovernmental Body for the Environment as a subsidiary of the General Assembly should be established.2

1 See Chapter 2, Advisory Committee Response to United Nations Recommendations 46.-48., 66.-67; Chapter 3, Advisory Committee Recommendation 1.

2 See Chapter 3, Advisory Committee Recommendation 2.