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

Figure 10.16. 
United 
Nations Conference 
on Environment and 
Development in Rio 
de Janeiro, 1992 – the 
meeting of 103 state 
leaders
The conference was 
opened by the United 
Nations Secretary‑General 
Boutros‑Boutros Ghali 
on June 3, 1992, and 
Fernando Collor de 
Mello, President of Brazil, 
was elected President 
of the Conference. The 
Conference adopted 
the Rio de Janeiro 
Declaration on Environ‑
ment and Development, 
Agenda 21, the 
Statement of Principles 
on the Management, 
Conservation and 
Sustainable Development 
of All Types of Forests, 
the United Nations 
Framework Convention 
on Climate Change 
and the United Nations 
Framework Convention 
on Biological Diversity.

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10. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
 227
should be covered by international financial aid. These sums seemed 
unrealistic, taking into account the opportunities of attracting and 
exploiting financial resources.
A report on implementation of Agenda 21 was submitted at the 
meeting of the United Nations World Commission of Environ ment 
and Development in the summer of 1997. Global Environ mental 
Facility (GEF), established due to the report of the United Nations 
World Commission of Environ ment and Development in 1987, 
planned  on  spending  only  EUR  0.93  billion  in  the  period  of  1991 
to 1994 and EUR 1.33 billion in 1995 to 1998, most of which would 
be spent on global climate change, international water pollution and 
protection of biological diversity and the ozone layer. On the whole, 
international  financial  aid  (including  multinational  and  bilateral 
financial cooperation) to developing countries has decreased because 
of political and economic factors. At the end of the Cold War, some 
of the financial resources due for developing countries were shifted 
to the former Soviet Block countries. In addition, the former market 
relations between eastern Europe and the developed countries 
weakened, leaving some of the former Soviet Bloc countries in a 
political deadlock and forcing them to search for new partners. The 
cut in international aid was also related to a financial crisis affecting 
the developed countries. In order to diminish the consequences of 
the crisis and stabilise the local situation, the countries drastically 
cut the resources for international financial aid.
In addition, the environ ment in the countries of the former 
Eastern Bloc was a concern, as well as the competition between these 
countries and the developing countries for the economic aid from 
the West. The former Eastern Bloc countries had to overcome many 
problems to be able to embrace sustainable development. In May 3-4, 
1996, Prime Ministers of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and 
EU top officials, including President of the European Commission, 
met in Visby, Sweden. The setting was one of the most remarkable 
scenes of regional policy making since the end of the Cold War. In 
the  final  declaration  of  the  meeting,  the  issue  of  environ mental 
protection was high on agenda, including Agenda 21 for the Baltic 
Sea Region, as well as co-operation and knowledge transfer. Sweden, 
as the host of the meeting, set aside a sum of one billion Swedish 
crowns (about 110 000 EUR) to fund the proposed activities with the 
help of the newly created Advisory Council for co-operation on the 
Baltic Sea Region issues. During economic difficulties, it is of utmost 
importance to ensure that environ mental protection is a political 
priority. That can be achieved only if environ mental organisations 
keep pressing the issues and have the support and involvement of 
the society. In all eastern Europe countries in which Green Parties 
were  a  significant  force  in  the  struggle  for  independence,  the 

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228 
ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT:  THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
priorities have gradually changed. Many representatives of Green