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The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
Having met at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992,
Reaffirming the Declaration of the United Nations Conference
on the Human Environment, adopted at
Stockholm on 16 June 1972, a/ and seeking to build upon it,
With the goal of establishing a new and equitable global
partnership through the creation of new levels
of cooperation among States, key sectors of societies and
people,
Working towards international agreements which respect the
interests of all and protect the integrity of
the global environmental and developmental system,
Recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the
Earth, our home,
Proclaims that:
Principle 1
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable
development. They are entitled to a healthy
and productive life in harmony with nature.
Principle 2
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations and the principles of international
law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources
pursuant to their own environmental and
developmental policies, and the 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.
Principle 3
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably
meet developmental and environmental
needs of present and future generations.
Principle 4
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental
protection shall constitute an integral part of
the development process and cannot be considered in isolation
from it.
Principle 5
All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential
task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable
requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease
the disparities in standards of living and
better meet the needs of the majority of the people of the
world.
Principle 6
The special situation and needs of developing countries,
particularly the least developed and those most
environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special priority.
International actions in the field of
environment and development should also address the interests
and needs of all countries.
Principle 7
States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to
conserve, protect and restore the health and
integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the different
contributions to global environmental
degradation, States have common but differentiated
responsibilities. The developed countries
acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the
international pursuit to sustainable development in
view of the pressures their societies place on the global
environment and of the technologies and
financial resources they command.
Principle 8
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of
life for all people, States should reduce and
eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption
and promote appropriate demographic
policies.
Principle 9
States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous
capacity-building for sustainable development by
improving scientific understanding through exchanges of
scientific and technological knowledge, and by
enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer
of technologies, including new and
innovative technologies.
Principle 10
Environmental issues are best handled with participation of
all concerned citizens, at the relevant level.
At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate
access to information concerning the
environment that is held by public authorities, including
information on hazardous materials and activities
in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in
decision-making processes. States shall
facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by
making information widely available.
Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings,
including redress and remedy, shall be
provided.
Principle 11
States shall enact effective environmental legislation.
Environmental standards, management objectives
and priorities should reflect the environmental and
development context to which they apply. Standards
applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of
unwarranted economic and social cost to other
countries, in particular developing countries.
Principle 12
States should cooperate to promote a supportive and open
international economic system that would
lead to economic growth and sustainable development in all
countries, to better address the problems of
environmental degradation. Trade policy measures for
environmental purposes should not constitute a
means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a
disguised restriction on international trade.
Unilateral actions to deal with environmental challenges
outside the jurisdiction of the importing country
should be avoided. Environmental measures addressing
transboundary or global environmental problems
should, as far as possible, be based on an international
consensus.
Principle 13
States shall develop national law regarding liability and
compensation for the victims of pollution and
other environmental damage. States shall also cooperate in an
expeditious and more determined manner
to develop further international law regarding liability and
compensation for adverse effects of
environmental damage caused by activities within their
jurisdiction or control to areas beyond their
jurisdiction.
Principle 14
States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent
the relocation and transfer to other States
of any activities and substances that cause severe
environmental degradation or are found to be
harmful to human health.
Principle 15
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary
approach shall be widely applied by States
according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of
serious or irreversible damage, lack of full
scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for
postponing cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation.
Principle 16
National authorities should endeavour to promote the
internalization of environmental costs and the use
of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that
the polluter should, in principle, bear the
cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and
without distorting international trade and
investment.
Principle 17
Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument,
shall be undertaken for proposed activities
that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the
environment and are subject to a decision of a
competent national authority.
Principle 18
States shall immediately notify other States of any natural
disasters or other emergencies that are likely
to produce sudden harmful effects on the environment of those
States. Every effort shall be made by
the international community to help States so afflicted.
Principle 19 States shall provide prior and timely
notification and relevant information to potentially
affected States on activities that may have a significant
adverse transboundary environmental effect
and shall consult with those States at an early stage and in
good faith.
Principle 20
Women have a vital role in environmental management and
development. Their full participation is
therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.
Principle 21
The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world
should be mobilized to forge a global
partnership in order to achieve sustainable development and
ensure a better future for all.
Principle 22
Indigenous people and their communities and other local
communities have a vital role in environmental
management and development because of their knowledge and
traditional practices. States should
recognize and duly support their identity, culture and
interests and enable their effective participation in
the achievement of sustainable development.
Principle 23
The environment and natural resources of people under
oppression, domination and occupation shall be
protected.
Principle 24
Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development.
States shall therefore respect
international law providing protection for the environment in
times of armed conflict and cooperate in its
further development, as necessary.
Principle 25
Peace, development and environmental protection are
interdependent and indivisible.
Principle 26
States shall resolve all their environmental disputes
peacefully and by appropriate means in accordance
with the Charter of the United Nations.
Principle 27
States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a
spirit of partnership in the fulfilment of the
principles embodied in this Declaration and in the further
development of international law in the field of
sustainable development.
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a/ Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment, Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.73.II.A.14 and
corrigendum), chap. I.
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