Protection of global climate for present and future generations of mankind : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

  • Author: UN General Assembly (44th sess. : 1989-1990)
  • Document source:
  • Date:
    22 December 1989

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 43/53 of 6 December 1988, in which it recognized climate change as a common concern of mankind,

Taking note of decision 15/36 of 25 May 1989 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme on global climate change,

Taking note of the message of the Chairman of the Conference on Saving the Ozone Layer, held in London from 5 to 7 March 1989, the Declaration of The Hague endorsed by 24 heads of State or Government or their representatives at The Hague 11 March 1989, the Helsinki Declaration on the Protection of the Ozone Layer adopted on 2 May 1989, the relevant parts of the Langkawi Declaration on Environment issued by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on 21 October 1989, the Declaration adopted at Noordwijk, the Netherlands, by the Ministerial Conference on Atmospheric Pollution and Climate Change, held on 6 and 7 November 1989, and relevant parts of the Caracas Declaration adopted at the special ministerial meeting of the Group of Seventy-seven, held at Caracas from 21 to 23 June 1989,

Taking note of the relevant declarations and decisions adopted at intergovernmental regional meetings during 1989, including the Amazon Declaration, adopted by the Presidents of the States parties to the Treaty for Amazonian Co-operation at Manaus, Brazil, on 6 May 1989, the Declaration of Brasilia, issued at the Sixth Ministerial Meeting on the Environment in Latin America and the Caribbean, held at Brasilia on 30 and 31 March 1989, and the relevant parts of the Final Communique of the Twentieth South Pacific Forum, held at Tarawa, Kiribati,on 10 and 11 July 1989,

Noting that, in the Economic Declaration adopted on 16 July 1989, in Paris at the Summit of the seven major industrial nations, the Heads of State or Government of those countries and the President of the Commission of the European Communities supported the decision of the World Meteorological Organization to establish a global reference network to detect climate change, agreed that a framework convention on climate was urgently required and recognized that specific protocols with commitments could develop within this framework,

Taking note of the final documents of the Ninth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Belgrade from 4 to 7 September 1989, which, inter alia, emphasized that necessary and timely action should be taken to deal with climate changes and their consequences within a global framework and, in this context, called for the preparation and adoption of a framework convention on climate on an urgent basis in conformity with General Assembly resolution 43/53,

Recognizing the need for additional research and scientific studies into all sources, causes and effects of climate change,

Noting the fact that the largest part of the current emission of pollutants into the environment originates in developed countries, and recognizing therefore that those countries have the main responsibility for combating such pollution,

Recognizing the need for international collaboration with a view to adopting effective measures on the question of climate change, within a global framework and taking into account the particular needs and development priorities of developing countries,

Concerned that the participation of the developing countries in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change remains limited, and stressing the need for the Intergovernmental Panel, in view of its intergovernmental nature, to do all that it can to ensure adequate participation and governmental involvement in its activities in accordance with United Nations practice,

1.         Emphasizes the need to address with urgency the question of climate change as reflected in the conclusions of various important international meetings;

2.         Recommends that Governments, with due consideration for the need for increased scientific knowledge of the sources, causes and impact of climate change and of global, regional and local climates, continue and, wherever possible, increase their activities in support of the World Climate Programme and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, including the monitoring of atmospheric composition and climate conditions, and also recommends that the international community support efforts by developing countries to participate in these scientific activities;

3.         Urges Governments, in keeping with their national policies, priorities and regulations, and intergovernmental organizations to collaborate in making every possible effort to limit, reduce and prevent activities that could adversely affect climate, and calls upon non-governmental organizations, industry and other productive sectors to play their due role;

4.         Reaffirms that, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, States have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources in accordance with their environmental policies, and also reaffirms their responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and to play their due role in preserving and protecting the global and regional environment in accordance with their capacities and specific responsibilities;

5.         Reaffirms that, owing to its universal character, the United Nations system, through the General Assembly, is the appropriate forum for concerted political action on global environmental problems;

6.         Welcomes the joint efforts of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme in providing support to the urgent work being undertaken by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its three working groups established to assess scientific information on, and the social and economic impact of, climate change and to formulate response strategies;

7.         Invites all Governments, as well as relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to support fully and participate actively in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel;

8.         Welcomes the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Trust Fund and the contributions made to it;

9.         Urges the Intergovernmental Panel to take the necessary steps to ensure the participation of developing countries in scientific and policy aspects of its work, and calls upon the international community, in particular the developed countries, to consider contributing generously to the Trust Fund, with a view to financing the participation of experts designated by Governments of developing countries in all the meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel, including its working groups and subgroups;

10.       Supports the request made by the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, in its decision 15/36, that the Executive Director of the Programme, in co-operation with the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, begin preparations for negotiations on a framework convention on climate, taking into account the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as the results achieved at international meetings on the subject, including the Second World Climate Conference, and recommends that such negotiations begin as soon as possible after the adoption of the interim report of the Intergovernmental Panel and that the General Assembly, at an early date during its forty-fifth session, take a decision recommending ways and means and modalities for pursuing these negotiations further, taking into account the work of the preparatory committee for the United Nations conference on environment and development to be held in 1992;

11.       Requests the Secretary-General to circulate for the information of delegations the reports of the third and fourth plenary sessions of the Intergovernmental Panel, as well as its interim report, as official documents of the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly;

12.       Urges Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and scientific institutions to collaborate in efforts to prepare, as a matter of urgency, a framework convention on climate and associated protocols containing concrete commitments in the light of priorities that may be authoritatively identified on the basis of sound scientific knowledge, and taking into account the specific development needs of developing countries;

13.       Recommends that Governments and competent intergovernmental organizations consider, while awaiting the outcome of the negotiations, the range of possible options for averting the potentially damaging impact of climate change, for removing the causes of the phenomenon and for developing programmes for implementing those options which respond more appropriately to national needs as outlined in paragraphs 11 (a) to (f) of decision 15/36 of the Governing Council;

14.       Encourages Governments and relevant international organizations to further the development of international funding mechanisms, taking account of proposals for a climate fund and other innovative ideas, bearing in mind the need to provide new and additional financial resources to support developing countries in identifying, analysing, monitoring, preventing and managing environmental problems, primarily at their source, in accordance with national development goals, objectives and plans, so as to ensure that development priorities are not adversely affected;

15.       Decides that the concept of assured access for developing countries to environmentally sound technologies and assured transfer of those technologies to developing countries on favourable terms and the relation of that concept to intellectual property rights should be explored in the context of the elaboration of a framework convention on climate, with a view to developing effective responses to the needs of developing countries in this area;

16.       Requests the Secretary-General, in the context of ongoing intergovernmental and other efforts in this field, to continue his support for the formulation and implementation of strategies to respond to climate change;

17.       Also requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Governments, as well as intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and scientific institutions with expertise in matters concerning climate;

18.       Further requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session on the progress achieved in the implementation of the present resolution;

19.       Decides to include this question in the provisional agenda of its forty-fifth session, without prejudice to the application of the principle of biennialization.

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