[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 311 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 311

 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the policy of the United 
   States at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and related 
                                matters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 30, 2002

 Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Akaka, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Leahy, 
  Mr. Feingold, and Mr. Bingaman) submitted the following resolution; 
        which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the policy of the United 
   States at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and related 
                                matters.

Whereas the Senate recalls the Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations 
        Conference on the Human Environment of 1972, the Rio Declaration on 
        Environment and Development of the United Nations Conference on 
        Environment and Development of 1992, and Agenda 21--which provided the 
        framework for action for achieving sustainable development;
Whereas the pillars of sustainable development--economic development, social 
        development and environmental protection--are interdependent and 
        mutually reinforcing components, and many countries continue to face 
        overwhelming social, environmental and economic challenges;
Whereas global environmental degradation is both affected by and a significant 
        cause of, social and economic problems such as pervasive poverty, 
        unsustainable production and consumption patterns, poor ecosystem 
        management and land use, and the burden of debt;
Whereas, despite the many successful and continuing efforts of the international 
        community, the environment and the natural resource base that supports 
        life on Earth continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate;
Whereas the Senate recognizes the importance of the World Summit on Sustainable 
        Development as a review of progress achieved in implementing the 
        commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and 
        Development, and as an opportunity for the international community to 
        strengthen international cooperation and implement its commitments to 
        achieve sustainable development;
Whereas the Senate recognizes further that the World Summit on Sustainable 
        Development is intended to be a summit of heads of state;
Whereas the United States delegation was represented by the President at the 
        United Nations Conference on Environment and Development of 1992; and
Whereas the Senate recognizes further the importance of the United States of 
        America as a world leader in effectively addressing issues related to 
        the 3 pillars of sustainable development: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) having the President lead the United States delegation 
        would send a strong signal of United States support for the 
        goals of sustainable development;
            (2) the United States should at the World Summit on 
        Sustainable Development--
                    (A) reaffirm its support for the implementation of 
                commitments entered into by the United States and the 
                international community at the United Nations 
                Conference on Environment and Development;
                    (B) support increased international cooperation to 
                implement the provisions of Agenda 21 and to address 
                the challenges of sustainable development in the 
                twenty-first century, including new specific targets 
                and commitments, in particular with respect to the 
                protection of the oceans and freshwater, combating 
                deforestation, implementation of the United Nations 
                Convention to Combat Desertification, protection of the 
                atmosphere including global climate change, 
                preservation of biological diversity, and reducing the 
                use of persistent bioaccumulative toxic pollutants;
                    (C) reaffirm the importance of integrating 
                environmental and social considerations into economic 
                decision making, including trade and investment 
                agreements;
                    (D) support measures to improve compliance with and 
                enforcement of international environmental commitments;
                    (E) support measures to improve the economic, 
                social, and environmental well-being of developing 
                countries, including the mobilization of domestic and 
                international resources and development assistance 
                beyond current levels;
                    (F) support the Global Environment Facility, which 
                provides critical financial assistance for 
                environmental improvements in the developing world, at 
                a level which will allow it to adequately fund ongoing 
                and important new priorities;
                    (G) support good governance within each country and 
                at the international level as essential for sustainable 
                development, including sound environmental, social and 
                economic policies, democratic and transparent 
                institutions responsive to the needs of the people, 
                public access to information, the rule of law, anti-
                corruption measures, gender equality and an enabling 
                environment for investment;
                    (H) support efforts to meaningfully improve the 
                institutional structure for implementing the framework 
                created by Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on 
                Environment and Development, as well as a more coherent 
                and coordinated approach among international 
                environmental instruments;
                    (I) remain firmly opposed to commercial whaling and 
                to all efforts to reopen international trade in whale 
                meat or to downlist any whale population in the 
                Convention on International Trade in Endangered 
                Species; and
                    (J) support measures to increase the use of 
                renewable sources of energy throughout the world--for 
                example, encourage export credit agencies to foster 
                more projects to develop renewable energy resources;
            (3) both at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and 
        in other appropriate fora, the United States should re-engage 
        in, provide leadership to, and urgently pursue the negotiation 
        of binding international agreements to address global climate 
        change consistent with--
                    (A) United States commitments under Article 2 of 
                the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
                Change to ``achieve . . . stabilization of greenhouse 
                gas concentrations at a level that avoids dangerous 
                anthropogenic interference with the climate system . . 
                . within a timeframe sufficient to allow ecosystems to 
                adapt naturally to climate change . . .'';
                    (B) the findings of the Third Assessment Report of 
                the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which 
                the Administration should support in its international 
                negotiations; and
                    (C) the Sense of Congress on Climate Change 
                approved by the Senate as part of the National Energy 
                Policy Act of 2002;
            (4) both at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and 
        in other appropriate fora, the United States should support, 
        provide leadership and urgently pursue the negotiation of 
        binding international agreements for the protection of the 
        marine environment, aimed at--
                    (A) reducing over-capacity of the global fishing 
                fleet to environmentally and economically sustainable 
                levels;
                    (B) reducing bycatch, and protecting endangered 
                migratory species, such as sea turtles, marine mammals 
                and sea birds;
                    (C) addressing the international aspects of marine 
                debris;
                    (D) combating the degradation and destruction of 
                coral reefs; and
                    (E) reducing land-based pollution such as sewage 
                and other nutrients; and
            (5) the President should identify priority international 
        environmental agreements that the United States has signed 
        during and following the United Nations Conference on 
        Environment and Development that the Administration will 
        present to the Senate for ratification.
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