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BANGKOK DECLARATION ON THE ASIAN ENVIRONMENT

Convened by Siam Environment Club and Japan Environmental Council, we, specialists of environmental science, attornies atlaw, administrative officers and representatives of various NGOs congregating from 8 countries in the Asian region, have participated in the First Asia-Pacific Environmenal Conference held in Bangkok on 7th and 8th of December, 1991.

Through these two day's discussion,

- confirming, with serious anxiety, that environmental problems, such as pollution damages caused by industrial development, disruption of nature caused by industrial or commercial activities, degradation of urban environment due to disordered urbanization and motorization, have become grave in each country and sometimes enlarged from regional issues to global issues;

- recognizing, as a result of the exchange of information and experiences of environmental problem cases in each country, which has been done through 3 days' field trip and 2 days' discussions of the conference, that the environmental problems which have occurred in South-Asian countries in particular are caused more or less, by Japanese O.D.A., the commercial activities of Japanese national companies, and the industrial and commercial activieds of multinational companies whose capitals came from Japan;

- acknowledging, after having participated in the conference and discussed for finding how to solve environmental problems in Asia, that, to settle pollution cases and to protect the environment, it is indispensable to make clear the responsibility of each country, each company and each person according to their position and their actions, on the one hand, and to make efforts to intensify bilateral or multilateral international cooperation at various levels, on the other hand;

- wishing, at the time when the United Nation's Conference on Environment and Development (U.N.C.E.D.) will be held in half a year, that the whole world will get over the antagonism existing between said develolped countries and developing countries,in recognizing their responsibility and need for international cooperation;

we declare as follows:

1. On the basis of the responsibility, legal or non legal, said developed counries, such as Japan, and multi-national companies should take measures to recover the environmental disruption which has occurred in developing countries, according to the extent that the environmental disruption sshould be due to their activities. Said developing countries must take care of the protection of the environment which they can control by their national sovereignities;

2. On the basis of the responsibility and in accordance with the right to environment which has been established, nationally or internationally, as a fundamental human rights, Japanese O.D.A. and Japanese multi-national companies activities should be assessed carefully to know if they may cause environmental disruption to other countries and infringe the right to environment of inhabitants living there in;

3. On the basis of responsibility of the NGOs both from developed and developing countries, while the national resources, such as tropical timber, have been used much more than necessary, the NGOs should work together to help stop this too much exploitation and preserved some vital resources which facing depletion.

4. On the basis that biodiversity is very important and the data concerning this in developing countries are still far than necessary, the encouragement for studying should be made in tropical countries. Funding should be provided to assist studies.

5. If environmental technology transfer is indispensable to prevent environmental disruption, it should be carried out so as to adjust the technology to a country to whch it wilI be transferred. In this context, because of it's ineeffectiveness, the technology transfer leaving to commercial basis must be examined.

6. If sustainable development is possible, it must be realized also in Asian region. Japan should make efforts to establish certain institutions, such as "Environmental Fund" and "Endronmental Technology Center", in cooperation with other Asian countries. Asian countries must devise a certain framework of cooperation in facing the crisis of the global environment. Thus, Asian counries will be able to contribute for success of the UNCED.

7. We, having assembled in this conference as scientists, lawyers; administrative officers and citizens, will make efforts to stop environmental degradation and to solve regional and global environmental problems, in continuing to have such a kind of conference and to exchange information.