The Conference participants discussed a variety of environmental subjects, but the central issue was climate change. Taking their cue from the Conference theme of sustainable development, the Ministers focused on the need for industrialized countries to limit emissions of greenhouse gases through more efficient and environmentally sound energy use.
The Ministers recognized that the ECE countries of North America and Europe consume about 70% of the worldâs energy. They declared their willingness to "assume a major responsibility to limit or reduce greenhouse gases." A large majority of the industrialized states represented at the conference also agreed that they would stabilize the emission of CO2 and other important greenhouse gases at 1990 levels by the year 2000. Due to opposition from the United States and a few other countries, however, the conference did not adopt a commitment to specific emissions targets.
The resulting Bergen Declaration2 details concrete measures necessary for combating the causes of climate change. These measures address the transport sector, energy efficiency and conservation, environmentally sound and renewable energy sources, and regulatory tools such as taxes and emissions charges. Additional proposals debated during the preparatory discussions to the Conference are summarized in the Joint Agenda for Action.
The Declaration expresses strong support for the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It calls the IPCC "the principal forum for scientific assessment related to climate change". It repeated the request made by other international conferences that the IPCC examine the feasibility of a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2005.
The Declaration also lends its support to two key principles. These are the precautionary principle and the principle of the common but differentiated responsibilities of states for responding to climate change. Finally, the Declaration advocates finding new ways and means for providing financial resources to developing countries to help them implement environmentally sound practices. The Ministers could not agree, however, on a specific financial pledge.
The Bergen Declaration was an early indication of the commitment that the leading economic powers are willing to make to confront climate change. Although an agreement on specific quantitative limits for greenhouse gas emissions was not reached, the Declaration proposes concrete measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
For further reading:
"Environmental Policy and Law", No. 20/3 (1990), p. 84.
Also contact UN Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), Palais des Nations, 1210 Geneva, Switzerland.
Notes:
1 Similar meetings for other regions were held in Nairobi in 1990 (for the African region); in Sao Paolo in 1990 (for the Latin American and Caribbean region); and in Bangkok in 1991 (for the Asian region). (See fact sheet 223.)
2 Reprinted in "Environmental Policy and Law", No. 20/3 (1990), pp. 100-107.