A/RES/2849(XXVI) GA

70 General Assembly-Twenty-sixth Session problem, and to report as appropriate to the Com- mittee on Science and Technology; 13. Further requests the Secretary-General to seek the views of Governments on the recommendation of the Panel and of the Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology to Develop- ment for the establishment of a special protein fund under the United Nations Development Programme in order to ascertain the views of Governments on its feasibility and to ascertain whether significant resources would be made available to it without prejudice to the increased resources envisaged for the Programme, and to report to the General Assembly at its twenty-seventh session through the Economic and Social Council. 2026th plenary meeting, 20 December 1971. ANNEX Essential elements of the Strategy Statement on Action to Avert the Protein Crisis in the Developing Countries 1. Make every effort to increase the production of food crops, particularly through the exploitation of new high-yield varieties, bearing in mind the special need for an expanded production of protein-rich pulses and oilseeds; 2. Encourage accelerated and expanded research designed to improve the nutritive value of cereal proteins through genetic engineering; 3. Encourage accelerated and expanded research designed to develop high-yielding pulses, legumes and oilseed crops; 4. Encourage the increased production of animal proteins, particularly through research on increasing forage yields and production; 5. Make every effort to prevent an unnecessary loss of protein-containing foods in field, storage, transport and home; 6. Encourage increased production from marine and fresh- water fishery resources; 7. Encourage the development, distribution and promotion of formulated protein foods; 8. Facilitate the application of science and technology to the development of new protein sources in order to supplement conventional food resources; 9. Develop and support regional and national centres for research and training in agricultural technology, food science, food technology and nutrition; 10. Conduct informational and educational campaigns re- lated to protein production and consumption; 1 1. Improve protein utilization through the control and prevention of infectious diseases; 12. Review and improve policies, legislation and regula- tions regarding all aspects of food and protein production, processing and marketing so as to remove unnecessary obstacles and encourage appropriate activities; 13. Give special attention to the protein needs of vulnerable groups; 14. Initiate intervention programmes aimed at ensuring that vulnerable groups will receive the most appropriate type and a sufficient quantity of food by the most effective means; 15. Recognize the important relationships between family size, population growth and the protein problem; 16. Recognize the role of economic development and social modernization in solving the protein problem. 2849 (XXVI). Development and environment The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 2398 (XXIII) of 3 Decem- ber 1968, 2581 (XXIV) of 15 December 1969 and 2657 of 7 December 1970, Expressing satisfaction for the efforts made and the results already achieved towards planning action to be taken by the United Nations system in the field of the environment in a manner compatible with the priorities and interests of the developing countries, Taking note with appreciation, in particular, of the work done by the regional seminars on development and environment, held under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, the Economic Commission for Africa, the Economic Com- mission for Latin America and the United Nations Economic and Social Office at Beirut, as well as by the Panel of Experts on Development and the Environment, 50 Conscious of the signrificance of the results achieved in the Symposium on Problems relating to Environment, convened at Prague by the Economic Commission for Europe, for a better understanding of environmental problems,50 Fully conscious of the importance, urgency and uni- versality of environmental problems, Aware that the rational management of the environ- ment !is of fundamental importance for the future of mankind, Convinced that development plans should be com- patible with a sound ecology and that adequate environ- mental conditions can best be ensured by the promotion of development, both at the national and international levels, Fully aware that the environmental problems generated by the condition of under-development pose a serious threat to the developing countries, Cognizant that, aside from environmental disturbances provoked by human settlements and ecological problems related to nature itself, pollution of world-wide impact is being caused primarily by some highly developed countries, as a consequence of their own high level of improperly planned and inadequately co-ordinated in- dustrial activities, and that, therefore, the main respon- sibility for the financing of corrective measures falls upon those countries, Convinced that most of the environmental problems existing in developing countries are caused by their lack of economic resources for dealing with such problems as the improvement of unfavourable natural areas or the rehabilitation of environmental conditions that have deteriorated through the application of im- proper methods and technologies, Conscious that the main objective of developing countries is integrated and rational development, in- cluding industrial development based on advanced and adequate technologies, and that such development represents at the present stage the best possible solution for most of the environmental problems in the develop- ing countries, Conscious further that the quality of human life in the developing countries also depends, in large measure, on the solution of environmental problems which have their origin in nature and which are the product of under- development itself, within the general framework of de- velopment planning and the rational management of natural resources, Emphasizing that, notwithstanding the general prin- ciples that might be agreed upon by the international community, criteria and minimal standards of preser- vation of the environment as a general rule will have r.o See A/CONF.48/PC/ 13 and Corr. I, chap. III. Resolutions adopted on the reports of the Second Committee 71 to be defined at the national level and, in all cases, will have to reflect conditions and systems of values prevail- ing in each country, avoiding where necessary the use of norms valid in advanced countries, which may prove inadequate and of unwarranted social cost for the de- veloping countries, Stressing that each country has the right to formulate, in accordance with its own particular situation and in full enjoyment of its national sovereignty, its own na- tional policies on the human environment, including criteria for the evaluation of projects, Stressing further that in the exercise of such right and in the implementation of such policies due account must be taken of the need to avoid producing harmful effects on other countries, Recognizing the importance of bilateral and multi- lateral co-operation in solving environmental problems, A ware of the fact that a greater amount of scientific and technical knowledge than at present available would provide a more adequate basis for the satisfactory com- prehension and evaluation of environmental problems in general, and that, therefore, international co-opera- 1lion in this field is of paramount importance, Convinced that rational planning procedures at both the national and the regional levels constitute an essen- tial tool for an adequate equilibrium between the needs of development and the preservation and enhancement of the environment, Bearing in mind the need for developed countries to provide additional technical assistance and financing, beyond the targets indicated in the International Devel- opment Strategy for the Second United Nations De- velopment Decade, contained in General Assembly resolution 2626 (XXV) of 24 October 1970, and with- out affecting adversely their programmes of assistance in other spheres, to enable developing countries to enforce those new and additional measures that might be en- visaged as a means of protecting and enhancing the environment, Considering that environmental conditions can be adversely affected by activities conducted by States beyond the limits of their national jurisdiction, including the sea, the sea-bed, the ocean floor and the atmosphere, particularly by the testing of nuclear weapons, with harmful effects for other States, Considering further that various aspects of marine pollution and related matters will also be dealt with at the forthcoming United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and Inter-Governmental Maritime Consulta- tive Organization Conference on Marine Pollution, 1. Urges the international community and the or- ganizations of the United Nations system to strengthen international co-operation in the fields of environment, rational utilization of natural resources and preservation of adequate ecological balance; 2. Requests the Secretary-General, the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the other bodies established to advise and assist the Secretary-General in the prepa- rations for the Conference to ensure that in the exercise of their responsibilities the documentation to be sub- mitted to participating States and, in particular, the action plan and the action proposals for each of the main subject areas, as well as the draft Declaration on the Human Environment, be elaborated in such a manner as to take into full account the provisions em- bodied in the preamble and in the operative paragraphs of the present resolution; 3. Reaffirms that it is important for the United Na- tions Conference on the Human Environment to take fully into account the interests of the developing coun- tries and, in this context, endorses the vriews expressed in part three, section A.VII, of the Declaration and Principles of the Action Programme adopted at Lima on 7 November 1971 by the Second Ministerial Meet- ing of the Group of Seventy-seven Developing Coun- tries;51 4. Stresses that both the action plan and the action proposals to be submitted to the Undted Nations Con- ference on the Human Environment must, inter alia: (a) Respect fully the exercise of permanent sover- eignty over natural resources, as well as the right of each country to exploit its own resources in accordance with its own priorities and needs and in such a manner as to avoid producing harmful effects on other coun- tries; ( b) Recognize that no environmental policy should adversely affect the present or future development pos- sibilities of the developing countries; (c) Recognize further that the burden of the en- vironmental policies of the developed countries cannot be transferred, directly or indirectly, to the developing countries; ( d) Respect fully the sovereign right of each country to plan its own economy, to define its own priorities, to determine its own environmental standards and criteria, to evaluate its own social costs of production, and to formulate its own environmental policies, in the full understanding that environmental action must be defined basically at the national level, in accordance with locally prevailing conditions and in such a manner as to avoid producing harmful effects on other countries; ( e) A void any adverse effects of environmental policies and measures on the economy of the develop- ing countries in all spheres, including dnternational trade, international development assistance and the transfer of technology; 5. Further stresses that the action plan and the action proposals should include measures: (a) To promote programmes of training, applied research and exchange of information, with the objec- tive of amplifying and disseminating knowledge of questions pertaining to the preservation and improve- ment of environmental conditions, to an adequate re- Iationship between environmental policies and develop- ment policies, and to the question of comparative costs of different technologies in relation to the environment; ( b) To provide additional technical assistance and financial resources, beyond the targets indicated in the International Development Strategy, to enable develop- ing countries to enforce those measures and policies acceptable to them in such a manner as to ensure that no action is defined or proposed without the proper means of implementation; ( c) To give special attention to the particular problems and conditions of the environment of the land- locked and least developed among the develo{)ing countries; (d) To promote programmes designed to assist de- veloping countries, at their request, in solving environ- mental problems which have their origin in nature itself, which are the direct consequence of under-development and which particularly affect the living conditions of the population of developing countries; r,1 See A/C.2/270 and Corr. 1. 72 General Assembly-Twenty-sixth Session (e) To study with special attention the environ- mental problems and conditions of the countries with coastlines particularly exposed to the risks of marine pollution; (f) To promote international co-operation in order to prevent eliminate or at least adequately reduce and effectively 'control adverse ecological effects resulting from activities conducted in all spheres, in such a way that due account will be taken of the interests of all States; 6. Urges the States possessing nuclear weapons to put an end to the testing of those weapons in all spheres and, also in the context of measures designed to improve environmental conditions on a world-wide basis, stresses the necessity of prohibiting the produc- tion and use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and of ensuring their early destruction; 7. Further urges Member States, the United Nations system and other international organizations which deal with ecological problems to plan international co-opera- tion in the field of the environment, taking into par- ticular account the need for increased technical and financial assistance to the developing countries to help them improve their ecological conditions, both in rural and urban areas; 8. Indicates the advisability of the ri.nternational financial institutions being enabled, without affecting adversely their operations in other spheres, to consider favourably the increase in the volume and the softening of the terms of their economic assistance to the develop- ing countries for the planning and implementation of projects which, in the exclusive judgement of those countries, might be desirable and which, in their view, might be justifiable on environmental terms; 9. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a re- port to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment after ascertaining the views of Member States, on a 'scheme of voluntary contributions which would provide additional financing by the developed countries to the developing countries for environmental purposes, beyond the resources already contemplated in the International Development Strategy; 10. Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to pre- pare a comprehensive study, to be submitted to the Conference at its third session, on the effects of en- vironmental policies of developed countries which might adversely affect the present or future development pos- sibilities of developing countries, by means of, inter alia: (a) A decrease in the flow of international develop- ment assistance and a deterioration of its terms and conditions; ( b) A further deterioration in the trading prospects of developing countries by the creation of additional obstacles, such as the new non-tariff measures, which might lead to a new type of protectionism; 11. Reiterates the primacy of independent economic and social development as the main and paramount objective of international co-operation, in the interests of the welfare of mankind and of peace and world security. 2026th plenary meeting, 20 December 1971. 2850 (XXVI). United Nations Conference on the Human Environment The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 2398 (XXIII) of 3 Decem- ber 1968, 2581 (XXIV) of 15 December 1969 and 2657 (XXV) of 7 December 1970 on the preparations for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Having noted with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General52 called for in resolution 2657 (XXV), Having considered chapter XI of the report of the Economic and Social Council5:i and the relevant sum- mary records, 54 Taking note of the reports of the Preparatory Com- mittee for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment on its second55 and third56 sessions, Recognizing the important contributions to the preparations for the Conference made by the intergov- ernmental working groups on the declaration on the human environment, marine pollution, soils, monitoring or surveillance, and conservation, Taking note with satisfaction of the steps that have been taken through which the concerns of developing countries have been increasingly reflected in the prepara- tions for the Conference, such as the meeting of the Panel of Experts on Development and the Environment, held at Founex, Switzerland, in June 1971, the four regional seminars on development and environment organized by the Economic Commission for Africa, the Economic Comrnissiion for Asia and the Far East, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the United Nations Economic and Social Office at Beirut, and the meeting of scientists from developing countries organized by the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment of the International Council of Scien- tific Unions at Canberra, Taking into account the important contribution to the preparations for the Conference made by the Symposium on Problems relating to Environment, held at Prague in May 1971, by the Economic Commission for Europe, Recognizing the importance of ensuring that the global efforts in the field of the human environment be supplemented and made more effective by agreements at the regional or subregional levels, Taking note with appreciation of the assistance lent to the preparations for the Conference by Governments, organizations of the United Nations system, other inter- governmental and non-governmental organizations, in- cluding youth organizations, Taking into account the views expressed during its twenty-sixth session, 1. Approves the provisional agenda for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment as formulated in the report of the Secretary-General57 on the basis of the recommendations of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment; 52 A/8509 and Add, 1. 53 Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 3 (A/8403). 54 E/AC.24/SR.412-416. 55 A/CONF.48/PC/9 and Corr.I, transmitted to the Eco- nomic and Social Council at its fifty-first session under the symbol E/4991. 56 A/CONF.48/PC/13 and Corr.1. 57 A/8509, annex.

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