Kiera Jefferson
There have been numerous international agreements, conventions, and treaties signed by nations to address pollution and environmental issues. These agreements are legally binding for countries that have formally ratified them. Notable examples include the Kyoto Protocol, the Montreal Protocol, the LRTAP Convention, and the Stockholm Convention. The LRTAP Convention, or the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, was signed by 32 European countries, the United States, and Canada in 1979. It aimed to tackle acid rain and significantly improved air quality, extended life expectancy, and reduced premature deaths. The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, addressed substances that deplete the ozone layer. The Stockholm Convention, signed in 2001, focused on persistent organic pollutants. The Kyoto Protocol is another important agreement that addresses greenhouse gas emission reductions. These treaties foster international cooperation and scientific collaboration to combat pollution and its impacts on human health, ecosystems, and the environment.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of Treaty | Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution |
| Year | 1979 |
| Number of Parties | 51 |
| Region | Pan-European |
| Goal | To reduce air pollution |
| Protocols | 8, including the Gothenburg Protocol and the Protocol on Heavy Metals |
| Paris Agreement | Aimed to strengthen the response to climate change and limit global temperature increase to below 2°C |
| Paris Agreement Year | 2015 |
| Paris Agreement Withdrawal | The US withdrew in 2020 but was readmitted in 2021 |
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What You'll Learn
The Paris Agreement
To achieve this goal, the Paris Agreement operates on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action. Since 2020, countries have been submitting their national climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Each successive NDC is meant to reflect a higher degree of ambition than the previous version, with countries outlining actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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LRTAP/Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
The Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) is a multilateral agreement that aims to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of air pollution, including long-range transboundary air pollution. It was established in 1979 by 32 countries in the pan-European region, creating the first international treaty to address air pollution on a broad regional scale. LRTAP has since been ratified by 51 parties, including the United States, which joined in 1981 and is a party to four of the protocols.
The convention's scope includes various air pollutants, such as ground-level ozone, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, and particulate matter. LRTAP's success is built on a strong scientific foundation, with a shared knowledge base supported by joint monitoring and modelling programs and an extensive international network of scientists. This collaborative approach has fostered mutual trust and learning between scientists and policymakers.
One of LRTAP's key achievements is the Gothenburg Protocol, adopted in 1999. The protocol aims to reduce the harmful effects of air pollution, such as acid rain and ground-level ozone, by targeting emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. Amendments to the Gothenburg Protocol in 2012 further updated targets to reduce emissions and added measures to address particulate matter, including black carbon.
The Heavy Metals Protocol is another important component of LRTAP, focusing on controlling emissions of lead, cadmium, and mercury from anthropogenic activities that are subject to long-range atmospheric transport. The United States ratified the amended Heavy Metals Protocol in 2015, demonstrating its commitment to reducing heavy metal pollution.
LRTAP has significantly influenced the evolution of international environmental law and provided a vital framework for mitigating the detrimental effects of transboundary air pollution on human health and the environment. It has contributed to a notable decline in air pollution emissions, particularly for sulfur, and has helped decouple economic growth from air pollution trends.
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International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, or MARPOL, is the main international convention covering the prevention of marine pollution by ships from operational or accidental causes. The convention was adopted on 2 November 1973 at the International Conference on Marine Pollution in London, and the original MARPOL was signed on 17 February 1973.
MARPOL was developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency that deals with maritime safety and security, as well as the prevention of marine pollution from ships. The convention's objective is to minimise pollution of the oceans and seas, including dumping, oil, and air pollution.
MARPOL is divided into six Annexes, each dealing with the regulation of a particular group of ship emissions. For example, Annex I, which came into force on 2 October 1983, specifically addresses the prevention of oil pollution, while Annexes IV and V focus on the disposal of garbage and sewage from ships. Annex VI, which came into effect in May 2005, addresses air pollution from ocean-going ships, setting limits on nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide emissions and requiring the use of fuel with lower sulphur content.
As of January 2018, 156 states are parties to MARPOL, representing 99.42% of the world's shipping tonnage. All ships flagged under countries that are signatories to MARPOL must comply with its requirements, and each signatory nation is responsible for enacting domestic laws to implement the convention.
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International Tropical Timber Agreement
The International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) is an international treaty that the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) operates under. The ITTA aims to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from sustainably managed and legally harvested forests, as well as encourage the sustainable management of tropical timber-producing forests.
The ITTA was first established in 1983 with 58 signatory parties, including major economies such as the United States, China, and Japan, and those in the European Union. The agreement was superseded in 1994 by a new agreement with 62 signatories, and again in 2006 by ITTA3, which entered into force in 2011. As of October 2018, there were 74 parties to ITTA3, with Nigeria and Paraguay having signed but not ratified the agreement. Notably, Canada ratified the agreement in 2009 but has since denounced it.
The ITTA is a commodity agreement among the country members of the ITTO, which was established in 1986 in Yokohama, Japan. The ITTO's purpose is to balance promoting the tropical timber trade and industry with the sustainable management of natural forest resources. The organization is administered by UNCTAD, which has a mandate to facilitate cooperation between commodity producers and consumers and support the work of international commodity bodies.
The 2006 ITTA specifically aimed to include timber from all types of forests, not just tropical, to meet the global imperative for sustainable development. This proposal was favored by all developing countries, which are the tropical timber producers, as well as major environmental groups. The agreement also sought to enhance members' capacity to export tropical timber and timber products from sustainably managed sources, improve forest management and wood utilization research, and encourage tropical timber reforestation and restoration of degraded forest land while considering the needs of local communities.
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Aarhus Convention
The Aarhus Convention, or the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, was signed on 25 June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark. It is a multilateral environmental agreement that increases opportunities for citizens to access environmental information and secure a transparent and reliable regulation procedure. The Aarhus Convention is a legally binding agreement for all the states that have ratified it, and it entered into force on 30 October 2001.
The Aarhus Convention is a novel kind of environmental agreement that links environmental rights to human rights. It establishes that sustainable development can only be achieved through the involvement of all stakeholders and links government accountability to environmental protection. It grants the public rights regarding access to information, public participation, and access to justice in governmental decision-making processes on matters concerning the local, national, and transboundary environment. It focuses on interactions between the public and public authorities, with "public authorities" referring to governments, international institutions, and privatized bodies with public responsibilities.
The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee was established to fulfill the requirement of Article 15 of the convention, which outlines a review of compliance to establish arrangements for reviewing compliance with the convention. The convention has a unique Compliance Review Mechanism, which can be triggered in four ways: a Party makes a submission concerning its own compliance, another Party makes a submission concerning its compliance, the Convention Secretariat makes a referral to the committee, or a member of the public makes a communication concerning the compliance of a Party. This mechanism is unique in international environmental law as it allows members of the public to communicate their concerns about a Party's compliance directly to a committee of international legal experts.
The Aarhus Convention is interpreted according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and the agreement's authoritative languages are English, Russian, and French. As of March 2014, it had 47 parties, including 46 states and the European Union. All of the ratifying states are in Europe and Central Asia.
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Frequently asked questions
32 European countries, the United States, and Canada signed the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979.
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil was signed in London in 1954, 1962, and 1969.
The United States is a party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
The text of the Kyoto Protocol differentiates between types of countries and each nation's respective responsibilities under the agreement.
