- International action and
U.S. leadership are essential.
As befits America's world leadership role, we are also moving
vigorously with other nations to preserve the global environment.
~ President Richard Nixon
- Climate change, ozone layer depletion, invasive species,
loss of species, and depletion of marine fisheries can only be
addressed through joint and coordinated action by national
governments.
- History makes clear that American leadership is absolutely
critical in creating new international arrangements and finding
solutions to global environmental challenges.
- The U.S. represents a quarter of the global economy and is
one of the world’s largest polluters and resource consumers.
- The U.S. is one of the few countries with the scientific and
financial resources to make the investments in new energy,
transportation and other technologies that can reduce the
pressure on the planet’s ecosystems and resources.
- Need for U.S. Leadership and Action to Protect the
Earth
Over the last decade, the United States has relinquished its
leadership on global environmental issues. The U.S. has declined
to join a number of important international environmental
treaties, including the Kyoto Protocol and the Convention on
Biological Diversity, and has been inconsistent at best in its
support of global environmental institutions. The United States
Government was one of the driving forces behind the creation of
the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 1972 and the
Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in 1991. Yet our annual
contribution to UNEP is half of what is was 25 years ago and a
quarter of what it was a decade ago. Today, the US is in arrears
to the GEF in the amount of more than $100 million.
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, South Africa, the United States was seen by many as
out of step with many of its closest allies. In the end, the
Summit adopted ambitious new targets for achieving a more
sustainable future, including providing safe drinking water to
hundreds of millions of people and curbing the loss of species.
However, none of these goals can be achieved until the United
States demonstrates a commitment to provide the necessary
leadership.
The year 2004 will be an important opportunity for our nation to
examine the future direction of our society in the 21st century.
We can no longer afford to ignore global environmental challenges.
We must do more than just talk about these problems; we need to
stimulate real actions to address them.
The United States Government should make a concrete and
substantial commitment to strengthening international
environmental governance and to cooperating with developing
countries to address their own severe environmental challenges.
Stronger international norms and institutions are necessary to
protect global ecosystems and resources, to the benefit of all
nations, but especially to the benefit of those nations such as
the United States, that have the most to lose.
The U.S. should take the initiative in establishing and carrying
out multilateral work plans to implement environmental treaties
and internationally-agreed environmental targets. We also need to
increase substantially our contributions to the international
environmental agencies, such as the United Nations Environment
Program and the Global Environmental Facility. Giving a higher
priority to environmental protection in our foreign assistance
programs and in our work with the intergovernmental organizations,
including the World Bank and regional development banks, will
protect the investments we are making to promote stability and
prosperity.
The United States Government should take action at home to make
our society a model for sustainable development. By strengthening
laws, regulations, and programs to stimulate the development of a
less-resource-intensive and less-polluting society based on
cutting-edge green technologies and industries, we will position
the U.S. to benefit from the economic and employment opportunities
presented by the transition to an environmentally sustainable
global economy.
By making environmental protection a fundamental element of our
foreign policy, we can prevent degradation of the global
environment that endangers our nation’s public health, security
and economic well-being. The pursuit of this fundamental focus
will require the engagement with other governments in diplomatic
dialogues and active cooperation on key environmental issues. New
partnerships and initiatives, involving not only governments, but
also international agencies, citizen groups, and businesses will
increase the effectiveness of our public investments. And
enhancing the ability of individuals and communities worldwide to
protect their own health and environment will strengthen the
commitment to democracy in many nations.
+ Sign the Earth Legacy Declaraction |
