29 July 1982

International co-operation on the environment

The Economic and Social Council,

Bearing in mind the importance which the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade attaches to an ecologically sustainable development process and the need for further international co-operation in the field of the environment, and taking into account the fact that environmental considerations should be viewed in the context of national plans and priorities and development objectives of all countries, in particular the developing countries,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 36/192 of 17 December 1981, in which the Assembly reaffirmed the catalytic mandate and role of the United Nations Environment Programme and stressed the need for additional resources to be made available to the Fund of the United Nations Environment Programme for the developing countries to deal with their most serious environmental problems, such as soil degradation and deforestation, which are examples of very severe deterioration of natural resources that call for particular attention,

Noting with satisfaction from the introductory statement of the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and from statements made during the general discussion of the question that the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, at its session of a special character, which was held at Nairobi from 10 to 18 May 1982 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, adopted the Nairobi Declaration supporting and supplementing the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, stressed the need to intensify efforts at every level to protect and improve the environment, identified major environmental trends to be addressed over the next decade, and fixed priorities for action by the United Nations system to deal with them and, within these, the areas in which the United Nations Environment Programme should concentrate its efforts,

Having considered the report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme on its tenth session,

1. Takes note of the report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme on its tenth session and transmits it to the General Assembly for consideration and action with regard to the decisions contained therein;

2. Also takes note with satisfaction of decision 10/4 of 31 May 1982 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme on environment and development, particularly its emphasis on technical co-operation among developing countries;

3. Welcomes decision 10/26 of 31 May 1982 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme concerning the provision of a mechanism within the Programme for assisting developing countries in dealing with their serious environmental problems in line with the co-ordinating and catalytic role of the Programme, expresses its appreciation to those Governments that have pledged to provide technical assistance and/or additional financial resources to that mechanism, urges other Governments in a position to do so to take similar steps and calls upon potential donors and recipients to co-operate fully with the Programme to ensure the successful implementation of Governing Council decision 10/26;

4. Welcomes the adoption by the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, in its decision 10/21 of 31 May 1982, of the programme for the development and periodic review of environmental law, expresses the hope that the programme will be implemented in a manner commensurate with the importance attached to it by the Governing Council and calls upon Governments, United Nations organizations and bodies and intergovernmental organizations outside the United Nations system, as well as non-governmental organizations active in the field of the environment, to co-operate fully with the United Nations Environment Programme in the implementation of the programme;

5. Takes note of the progress report on co-operation in the field of the environment concerning natural resources shared by two or more States, and transmits it to the General Assembly, pursuant to Assembly resolution 34/186 of 18 December 1979, and in this context endorses section VI of decision 10/14 of 31 May 1982 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme;

6. Considers that the System-Wide Medium-Term Environment Programme for 1984-1989, could be a useful means to ensure better co-ordination within the United Nations system in the field of the environment, welcomes decision 10/13 of 31 May 1982 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, in which it approved the structure and objectives of the System-Wide Medium-Term Environment Programme and endorsed the environmental trends and proposed priorities for action by the United Nations system, urges other organizations of the United Nations system to continue their close co-operation with the United Nations Environment Programme in the further refinement and implementation of the System-Wide Programme, and appeals to Governments to continue to give support to the development and implementation of that Programme and to take the necessary decisions in this regard in the relevant governing bodies of the organizations of the United Nations system;

7. Stresses the importance its attaches to the development of the Environmental Perspective to the year 2000 and beyond, and notes that the Executive Director will submit a report thereon to the Governing Council at its eleventh session;

8. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Governing Council of UNEP on the implementation of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification and transmits it to the General Assembly for consideration;

9. Expresses its serious concern at, on the one hand, the persistence and aggravation of the desertification process and, on the other, the pace at which the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification, is being implemented; urges all Governments, organizations of the United Nations system, other intergovernmental bodies, non-governmental and all other organizations to augment their efforts to prevent and combat desertification in order to accelerate progress in implementing the recommendations of the Plan of Action;

and calls upon all Governments to consider seriously the urgent need for additional resources to finance the implementation of the Plan of Action;

10. Recommends that the General Assembly should invite the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme to present its views on the implementation in the eastern and southern African subregion of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification and to advise on the necessity or the possibility of the establishment of institutional machinery responsible for combating drought and desertification in that subregion;

11. Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to include the pertinent financial implications in his report to the Governing Council at its eleventh session on the progress in the implementation of Governing Council decision 10/2 of 31 May 1982, on the regional presence of the Programme;

12. Expresses its appreciation to Governments that have contributed to the Fund of the United Nations Environment Programme for the first time and to those that continue to contribute generously to it, particularly those that have maintained or increased the real value of their contributions;

13. Reiterates its appeals and those of the General Assembly at different sessions to Governments to increase their contributions to the Fund of the United Nations Environment Programme and appeals to all Governments that have not yet pledged contributions to the Fund for the years 1982 and 1983 to do so as soon as possible.