flora and fauna, waste disposal, marine pollution, environmental impact assessment, and protected areas. The protocol prohibits the mining of mineral resources for at least 50 years. Pursuant to the protocol, Antarctic Treaty parties convened a meeting of experts on environmental monitoring in Buenos Aires in June 1992.

The Arctic. A number of meetings took place concerning the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS), adopted in 1991 by the United States and seven other Arctic Rim nations. Topics included conservation of fauna and flora and response to environmental emergencies. AEPS participants have established the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, with a secretariat located in Norway.

Canada. In March 1992 the United States and Canada released the first progress report under the 1991 U.S.Canada Air Quality Accord. Initial emphasis has been on acid rain and visibility. The two nations established a bilateral Air Quality Committee and increased the exchange of experts and information on North American air quality matters.

The two countries continued to work on Great Lakes protection, implementing a Great Lakes Toxic Air Pollution Deposition-Monitoring Program. In October 1992 the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context was presented to the U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission, and negotiations continued on guidelines for implementation.

Canada joined the United States and Mexico in agreeing to establish a North American Commission on the Environment in parallel to the development of the North American Free Trade Agreement (see the NAFTA discussion

in the Economics section). In September 1992 EPA, Environment Canada, and the Mexican Secretariat of Social Development signed a memorandum of understanding on environmental educa

tion.

Climate Change National Action Plan. The United States presented initial elements of its national action plan at negotiating sessions for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1991 and added further measures in May 1992. These actions will limit net greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2000 to 6-11 percent below baseline projections, a limited increase of 1-6 percent above 1990 levels. The U.S. national action plan, published for public comment in the Federal Register (December 8, 1992) included several dozen measures, a sampling of which follows.

Creating stronger standards and incentives for energy efficiency in the industrial, commercial, housing, and transportation sectors;

• Accelerating the development and production of vehicles that operate on clean fuels such as natural gas, electric batteries, and biofuels;

Capturing methane from landfills, mines, and agricultural sources; • Research and development of highperformance aircraft engines, highspeed railroads, intelligent highway systems, industrial waste reduction and recycling systems, efficient coal technologies, safer nuclear reactors, and solar and wind energy technologies; and

• Research and planning for adaptation to climate change, focusing on coastal and freshwater resources, forests, and agriculture.

Because net greenhouse gas emissions are rising most rapidly in develop

ing and newly industrialized nations, the United States pledged $25 million in fiscal 1993-1994 to assist such countries in conducting climate change country studies. Such studies would emphasize the following topics:

• Vulnerability of developing countries to climate change;

• Inventories of sources and sinks of
greenhouse gases;

•Technological options for limiting
emissions and adapting to climate
change; and,

. Feasibility of specific climate-relat-
ed projects.

The United States hosted a Country Studies Workshop in September 1992 in Berkeley, California, and continued to fund over half the world's scientific research on climate change.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program is designed to reduce key scientific uncertainties and to develop more reliable scientific predictions upon which sound responses to global change can be based. Results from this work are available to the international scientific community.

An Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research was established in June 1992 under U.S. leadership. The institute is a network of centers engaged in basic research on global change processes of special interest to the Americas. The institute could be the first of several research centers worldwide to examine global change processes at the regional level.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. As a

party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), the United States participated in the eighth conference of the parties in March 1992 in Kyoto, Japan. Among decisions reached by the conference, parties agreed to continue listing the African elephant and ban all trade in ivory. For the first time, CITES discussed the possible listing of commodity species such as blue fin tuna and several tropical timbers and listed several varieties of mahogany. Delegates decided to reevaluate scientific criteria upon which listing actions are based. The treaty is evolving to deal with a future in which trade issues and species conservation will become increasingly intertwined. The United States will host the ninth conference of CITES parties in late 1994.

In 1992 Congress enacted legislation that will facilitate U.S. implementation of CITES resolutions on exotic birds. The bill regulates imports of exotic birds whose populations may be adversely affected by trade. It also authorizes assistance to wild bird management efforts in other nations.

Eastern and Central Europe. Building on existing bilateral accords and using funds provided under the Support for Eastern European Democracy Act of 1989, the United States continued to assist countries in the region with development of environmental legislation and institutions. The United States also provided technical assistance and financial support for activities such as energy efficiency centers in Prague and Warsaw.

Enterprise for the Americas Initiative. The United States continued to implement the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EAI), launched by President Bush in 1991. The agreement aims

to expand free trade throughout the Americas, stimulate economic reform and investment liberalization, and ease debt burdens. The debt-reduction plan includes innovative debt-for-nature swaps as a mechanism to support environmental protection and conservation. Under the plan, the United States and eligible nations will establish the terms for reduction of certain official debt (PL-480 debt); payment of interest on the remaining debt will be made in local currency and deposited into trust funds supporting environmental projects in the host country. Local nongovernmental organizations will play a prominent role in planning trust-fund expenditures through membership on an oversight board. Participating countries qualify for the program by implementing macroeconomic and trade policies conducive to free-market development. In February 1992 the United States signed an EAI environmental framework agreement with Chile, and similar agreements are in effect with Jamaica and Bolivia.

Global Environment Facility. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established in 1990 as a 3-year pilot project to provide financial and other assistance to developing countries for innovative environmental projects that provide global benefits. The World. Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and UNEP serve as joint implementing agencies for the facility. GEF funds can be used for projects in the areas of global warming, ozone-layer protection, protection of biodiversity, and international waters. At UNCED, the facility was named the interim financial mechanism for both the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Biodiversity Convention. Four rounds or tranches of GEF

projects have been submitted to participating countries for approval.

Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1992 the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Caribbean Region (the SPAW Protocol) went to the U.S. Senate for its advice and consent to ratification. The protocol builds on existing international obligations to establish specially protected areas to preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, especially the habitats of threatened or endangered species.

Multilateral Development Banks. In 1992 the United States continued its efforts to encourage the World Bank and other multilateral development banks to integrate environmental considerations into lending practices, as required by the Pelosi Amendment. For example, prior to action by the World Bank Board, the U.S. executive director scrutinizes the potential environmental impacts of proposed bank projects and withholds support for those with significant potential impacts unless an environmental impact assessment or comprehensive summary of alternatives has been made available to affected parties, nongovernmental organizations, and World Bank executive directors at least 120 days in advance of a board vote. This U.S. policy has resulted in greater use of environmental impact assessments and public review of proposed projects in developing countries.

The World Bank developed new policies in 1992 for agriculture, water resource management, and energy efficiency and conservation. Reforms, undertaken at U.S. urging, strengthened linkages between environment and development goals in lending programs. For example, in October 1992 the World Bank completed a series of studies on energy conservation in the United

States and in newly industrialized Asian countries, adopting a policy to make greater use of integrated resource planning a tool that illuminates alternatives to powerplant construction. Policy shifts resulted in increased consultation with affected groups and nongovernmental organizations. The United States urged regional development banks to undertake similar reforms.

Formal discussions regarding a tenth replenishment of funding for the International Development Association (IDA) continued through most of 1992. U.S. negotiators demanded that IDA activities include full public participation and address environmental considerations.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The intersection of environmental and trade concerns received unprecedented attention in 1992. Trade liberalization, generally associated with increases in national incomes, provides financial resources that can be devoted to environmental protection. At the same time, the economic growth generated by open trade can have significant environmental consequences. For a discussion of NAFTA, the landmark event of 1992 in the area of trade and the environment, see the Economics section.

Ozone-Layer Depletion. In August 1992 amendments to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer entered into force for the United States and 19 other countries. Parties to the Montreal Protocol and its 1990 amendments have agreed to phase out the production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances by the end of the century.

In February 1992, in response to scientific evidence indicating that ozone