AG/RES. 1358 (XXV-O/95)

EVALUATION AND UPDATING OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PROGRAM OF ACTION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

(Resolution adopted at the ninth plenary session, held on June 9, 1995)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN Annex I to the report of the Permanent Council on evaluation and updating of the Inter-American Program of Action for Environmental Protection (AG/doc.3224/94);

CONSIDERING:

That the General Assembly, through its resolution AG/RES. 1286 (XXIV-O/94), requested the Permanent Council to "evaluate the Inter-American Program of Action for Environmental Protection [AG/RES. 1114 (XXI-O/91)] and bring its activities up-to-date, in line with the results of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), with particular focus on the implementation of Agenda 21 and the General Policy Framework and Priorities: Partnership for Development";

That the Committee on the Environment has endeavored to evaluate and update the Inter-American Program of Action in order to carry out the mandate from the General Assembly as fully as possible but that, in doing so, it has encountered operational difficulties; and

That the Committee on the Environment must have the necessary means to discharge the mandates it receives from the General Assembly and especially to be in a position to contribute to the regional execution of the commitments undertaken at the Rio Summit, in particular Agenda 21, and to other initiatives under way in the Hemisphere, such as the Summit Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held soon in Bolivia; and

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Secretary General's proposals contained in the document "A New Vision of the OAS" aimed at strengthening the Organization in the area of the environment and his initiative to establish a unit on the environment as part of the General Secretariat,

RESOLVES:

  1. To take note of the annex to the report of the Permanent Council on evaluation and updating of the Inter-American Program of Action for Environmental Protection (AG/doc.3224/94).

  2. To welcome the efforts of the Permanent Council, through the Committee on the Environment as well as the Secretary General, to review and strengthen the role of the Organization in the area of the environment and sustainable development.

  3. To affirm that it is incumbent on the Permanent Council, through the Committee on the Environment, to propose OAS policy in the area of the environment and sustainable development in the Hemisphere and inter alia, to develop, coordinate, evaluate, and follow up on regional cooperation activities in these areas.

  4. To instruct the Permanent Council, through the Committee on the Environment, to pursue the actions agreed upon in operative paragraph 3 of resolution AG/RES. 1286 (XXIV-O/94), "Inter-American Program of Action for Environmental Protection," concerning evaluation and updating of the Program.

  5. To instruct the Permanent Council to convene a special meeting of the Committee on the Environment, with the participation of high-level government experts, to define the work that the OAS should do on the enrivonment and sustainable development and help to draw up a new regional agenda that, in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the member states at the Rio Summit, reflects the priorities they established, taking into account the Organization's experience, scarce resources, and the need to complement efforts being made by other intergovernmental bodies.

  6. To instruct the General Secretariat, in anticipation of the meeting of governmental experts mentioned in the preceding paragraph and based on inputs from the diverse areas associated with implementation of the Inter-American Program of Action for Environmental Protection, in particular in support of CIES and CIECC activities, to prepare an analytic study containing:

    a. The scope, status, and results of actions taken by the Organization since approval of the Program;

    b. Information on the overall actions or programs being carried out in the Hemisphere by other intergovernmental organs, agencies, and institutions involved in the area of the environment and sustainable development so as to ensure that efforts are complementary; and

    c. The actions or areas for which the Organization has comparative advantages and is therefore able to make a substantive contribution to achieving the objectives established by the member states.

  7. To instruct the Permanent Council to examine the Secretary General's proposals on the environment.

  8. To instruct the Permanent Council, during the transition to CIDI, to ensure the structural integration of activities on the environment and economic development and, in the meantime, to entrust CIES and CIECC with keeping the Committee on the Environment fully informed of such activities.

  9. To instruct the Permanent Council to conclude the evaluation and updating of the Inter-American Program of Action for Environmental Protection before the Summit Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in Bolivia, with a view to presenting the Conference with a global view of the activities incumbent on the OAS.

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