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Law-ref.org | Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe - Final Act - Helsinki 1975 |
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Forms and methods of co-operation
The participating States declare that problems relating to
the protection and improvement of the environment will be solved
on both a bilateral and a multilateral, including regional and
sub-regional, basis, making full use of existing pattern and
forms of co-operation. They will develop co-operation in the
field of the environment in particular by taking into
consideration the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment,
relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and
the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Prague sym-
posium on environmental problems.
The participating States are resolved that co-operation in
the field of the environment will be implemented in particular
through:
- exchanges of scientific and technical information, documentation and research results, including information on the means of determining the possible effects on the environment of technical and economic activities;
- organization of conferences, symposia and meetings of experts;
- exchanges of scientists, specialists and trainees;
- joint preparation and implementation of programmes and projects for the study and solution of various problems of environmental protection;
- harmonization, where appropriate and necessary, of environmental protection standards and norms, in particular with the object of avoiding possible difficulties in trade which may arise from efforts to resolve ecological problems of production processes and which relate to the achievement of certain environmental qualities in manufactured products;
- consultations on various aspects of environmental protection, as agreed upon among countries concerned, especially in connexion with problems which could have international consequences.
- promoting the progressive development, codification and implementation of international law as one means of preserving and enhancing the human environment, including principles and practices, as accepted by them, relating to pollution and other environmental damage caused by activities within the jurisdiction or control of their States affecting other countries and regions;
- supporting and promoting the implementation of relevant international Conventions to which they are parties, in particular those designed to prevent and combat marine and fresh water pollution, recommending States to ratify Conventions which have already been signed, as well as considering possibilities of accepting other appropriate Conventions to which they are not parties at present;
- advocating the inclusion, where appropriate and possible, of the various areas of co-operation into the programmes of work of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, supporting such co-operation within the framework of the Commission and of the United Nations Environment Programme, and taking into account the work of other competent international organizations of which they are members;
- making wider use, in all types of co-operation, of information already available from national and international sources, including internationally agreed criteria, and utilizing the possibilities and capabilities of various competent international organizations.
- to develop through international co-operation an extensive programme for the monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transport of air pollutants, starting with sulphur dioxide and with possible extension to other pollutants, and to this end to take into account basic elements of a co-operation programme which were identified by the experts who met in Oslo in December 1974 at the invitation of the Norwegian Institute of Air Research;
- to advocate that within the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe a study be carried out of procedures and relevant experience relating to the activities of Governments in developing the capabilities of their countries to predict adequately environmental consequences of economic activities and technological development.