on the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolutions of 13 June 1991 on energy and the environment1,

- having regard to its resolution of 13 June 1991 on economic and fiscal instruments of environmental policy2,

- having regard to its resolution of 13 February 1992 on EC participation on the UNCED3,

- having regard to the Commission communication to the Council on a Community strategy to limit carbon dioxide emissions and to improve energy efficiency (SEC(91) 1744),

- having regard to the undertakings given by the Council of Ministers for Energy and for the Environment, at the meetings of 29 October 1990 and 13 December 1991, concerning the needs to adopt measures to stabilize or reduce CO2 emissions by the year 2000,

- having regard to the resolutions adopted by the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly in Santo Domingo on 20 February 1992 on debt (663/92 fin.), on the interconnections that link development, debt, poverty and disarmament (587/92 fin.) and on the implications of the UN Conference on the Environment and Development for the ACP-EEC States (659/92 fin.),

- having regard to the report published in 1989 by the World Commission on Environment and Development ("Brundtland Report") and to the reports presented by the Brandt Commission and the Palme Commission,

- having regard to the proposals to stabilize and reduce CO2 emissions put forward by the Commission on 13 May 1992,

- whereas the conclusion of a global convention on climate is one of the linchpins for the success of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992,

A. whereas the UNCED affords the world community a unique opportunity to define and implememt policies which take account of the essential interdependence between human life and activity and the condition of the natural environment and the interrelationship between economic exploitation and environmental degradation,

B. whereas the interaction between development, economic exploitation and environmental degradation favours the affluent countries and whereas unequal levels of development are an unfair criterion for exploiting the global environment in that all individuals are in principle entitled to fair share of that exploitation,

C. whereas it is fundamentally necessary to find a solution to hunger in the world and to compensate for the impact of protecting the environment on population growth and poverty, since, moreover, global interdipendence, sustainable development and the developed world's moral responsability go hand in hand,

D. whereas the goal of stabilizing emissions will not be achievable unless a global and coherent strategy is implemented that extends to all areas of human activity, which are instrumental in creating the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, including energy, transport, industry and agriculture,

E. whereas all opportunuties for energy-saving and for making greater use of the least polluting energy sources will have to be exploited to the full,

F. whereas the greenhouse effect is global in nature and makes it imperative that the industrialized nations in particular give specific undertakings to reduce emissions resulting from energy consumption,

G. whereas the UNCED will not be a success unless it results in legally binding commitments concerning precise objectives and resource transfers,

1. Regrets that the Member States have failed to act on the undertakings given at the 13 December meeting with regard to forwarding information to the Commission on national emission-reduction programmes;

2. Calls on the Council to lay down, in line with Parliament's guidelines, the position which the Community proposes to take, at the Rio Summit, on reduction of CO2 emissions;

3. Takes the view, in this connection, that an active presence by the EC and its credibility are dependent on its ability to be present , in Rio de Janeiro, not only undertakings but also specific proposals on instruments and means for taking action;

4. Considers that in this connection the Member States should undertake to contribute 0.7% of their GNP to public development aid;

5. Regrets that the Commission's submission of measures to reduce CO2 emissions have been delayed until just two weeks before the UNCED Conference, making it impossible for the Community to agree such measures in time for the conference; regrets further the Commission's proposal that Community fiscal instruments to reduce CO2 emissions should be conditional on similar measures being introduced by its main OECD partners, including the United States; considers that this in effect grants third countries, including the United States, a power of veto over Community Policy;

6. Takes the view that the UNCED will not be a success unless it results in legally binding commitments concerning precise objectives and resource transfers; asks the Commission and the Council to inform the other participants in the UNCED that, from the Community's point of view, it will have been a failure if it fails to adopt binding provisions;

7. Calls on the Commission to submit, as soon as possible, the ALTENER programme for supporting renewable-energy demonstration projects;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the Governments and parliaments of the Member States.

------------------------------

1 OJ No. C 183, 15.7.1991, pp. 303 and 308

2 OJ No. C 183, 15.7.1991, p.296

3 Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 9(a)