Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

 10.5.3.  Third phase: from Stockholm (1972) to 
Rio de Janeiro (1992)
Two international conferences took place in 1968 and 1972, 
during which the problems of global environ mental protection 
were  discussed;  moreover,  specific  solutions  to  improve  the  state 
were  proposed.  The  first  was  the  Biosphere  Conference  in  Paris, 
which was in a more scientific vein and in which such problems as 
the human influence on the biosphere, the effect of air and water 
pollution, overgrazing of green areas, deforestation and the drainage 
of wetlands were discussed. The same problems were analysed in 
more detail during the next meeting – the Biosphere Conference in 
Stockholm, which attracted international attention to many global 
problems of nature and the environ ment. 
The United Nations Conference on the Human Environ ment 
in Stockholm in 1972 undoubtedly was a turning point and the 
most important event regarding the establishment and expansion 
of an international environ mental protection movement. It was 
the  first  time  when  environ mental  problems  were  discussed  and 
analysed in connection with economic and social development 
in  an  international  forum.  A  direct  outcome  of  the  conference 
was the establishment of a new United Nations agency: United 
Nations Environ ment Programme (UNEP), which marked the 
transition from the environ mental protection form of 1960 to the 
establishment of a movement that dealt with the environ ment 
protection politically and globally – a much more serious movement 
of  the  1970s,  thus  confirming  the  trend  towards  emphasising  a 
human-inhabited environ ment affected by humans and underlining 
the importance of a marked conservation and protection of nature. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  1980s,  there  were  about  13 000 non-
governmental organisations in the developed industrial states 
(30% had been established in the previous decade) and 2230 in the 
developing countries (60%). The environ mental non-governmental 
organisations in the developing countries provided an alternative to 
the corrupt governments.
The environ mental protection movement was a significant force 
in the struggle for independence in eastern Europe and the Baltic 
states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The rapid expansion of the 
movement probably was fuelled by the objections to the decisions 

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ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT:  THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
made in Moscow regarding the development of industry and the 
use  of  natural  resources;  moreover,  it  was  generally  confirmed 
that  extensive  pollution  is  a  significant  factor  contributing  to  the 
deterioration of human health.
The conference in Stockholm triggered many international 
initiatives and activities.
The Geneva Protocol on long-range transboundary air pollution 
(adopted in 1986) proposed quantitative goals. The document in 
question was reconciled with the European Commission and the North 
Sea Declaration. It was decided to reduce the amount of pollution 
caused by heavy metals, toxic and volatile organic substances and 
biogenic substances by half up to 1995. 
The  Baltic  Sea  Declaration  signed  in  Ronneby  in  1990 was  an 
important step to ensure the implemen tation of environ mental 
protection measures agreed upon inter nationally on a local scale. 
An  action  programme  was  approved  coordinated  by  national 
and  international  experts  and  financial  institutions,  including 
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the 
European Investment Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank and the 
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Programmes 
and regulations to cut the pollution were adopted on a local scale. 
In 1992, the plan was backed by the Baltic Sea Environ ment 
Declaration, which ensured the possibility to further guarantee the 
economic strategy of financing environ mental actions.
In  accordance  with  the  United  Nations  General  Assembly 
Decision of December 1983, the World Commission on Environ-
ment and Development was founded, and the position of chair was 
entrusted to Gro Harlem Brundtland.
The task of the Commission was to single out critical problems 
and formulate their solutions planned as a renewed research to 
ensure the emergence of multilateral solutions and re struc ture 
international economic corporation. The commission organised