United States A Magazine on National and Global Environmental Perspectives Environmental Protection Agency April-June 1993 Volume 19, Number 2 175-N-93-018 Carol M. Browner Administrator Communications, Education, and Public Affairs Loretta M. Ucelli Associate Administrator From the Editors Miles Allen Acting Director of Editorial Services !though the negotiations were often contentious and the skeptics were many, last year's United ations Conference on Environ­ Karen Flagstad A ment and Development laid a foundation for sound develop­ Senior Editor ment in the Third World. As Maurice Strong, secretary-general of the conference, said recently, "We got agreement at the highest level pos­ Teresa Opheim sible on our planet to the most comprehensive and far-ranging action Associate Ed itor program ever approved by the international community." Crucial to that action program are closer linkages between spheres Ruth Barker that many have viewed as disparate in the past, such as environmental Photo Editor protection and aid programs, and environmental protection and trade policies. Also crucial are creative partnerships and more of them­ Nancy Starnes Assistant Editor partnerships such as the United Nations' new Commission on Sustain­ able Development and an aid program called Africa 2000, which brings Marilyn Rogers together governments and grassroots organizations to fight against Cir ulation Manager poverty and to work to maintain ecosystems. A previous issue of EPA ]oumnl examined domestic challenges facing Francheska Greene the United States in working toward Rio's directives. This issue focuses Intern on the developing world, reporting on tough questions that must be answered as linkages are developed and partnerships are formed, and -o... on some concrete progress that has been made to help the developing Design Credits world work toward sustainable development. LL Ron Farrah -~ · · James R. Ingram Postscript: With Volume 19 (1993), EPA /011r11al became a quarterly magazine. In keeping with this change, the department previously called "Newsline" has been renamed "EPA Roundup." Front cover: Village children in Liberia, where nearly half the population is under 15 years of age and a quarter of the children are malnourished. Will worldwide sustainable development efforts help their prospects for the future? Pholo by Eric PoggenpohJ for Folio Inc. EPA JOURNAL Subscriptions Thl' .rnnual rate for suhscribc" rn the U.S. is $7.50. The annual rate for subscribers in foreign rountries is 59.40. The price of a single copy of EPA /ournn! is $4.25 in the U.S. and 55.31 ii sent to a foreign country. Prices include mailing costs. Subscriptions to F.PA /011mnl as well as other federal government magazines are handled only by the U.S. Government Printing Office. To subscribe to El'A /oumnl, send a check or money order payable to the Superintendent of Documents. The requests should be mailed to: P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250·7954. To cha nge address, call or write: The U.S. Government Printing Office, Public Documents Department, Superintendent of Documents, Washington, IX 20402; (202) 512- 2262. El'A /011n1nl is printed on recycled papPr. :-\O.\) .......-vV US EPA EN~ Headquarters and Chemical Libraries 11? ­ EPA West Bldg Room 3340 N' CONTENTS Mailcode 3404T 1301 Constitution Ave NW Washington DC 20004 202-566-0556 Sustainable Development: Linkages and Partnerships for the Developing World Worth Considering 26 Can the World Bank be Reformed? by Korinna Horta 2 Presidential Earth Day Address 28 Trade-Environment Tensions by Paul Cough 4 Carol Browner on EPA's Priorities 30 Trade and the Rio Declaration 4 Al Gore on Healing Our Relationship with the Earth 31 Stopping the Waste page 2 by William A. itze :fhe Developing World 34 Building Coalitions by Linda Starke 8 Resource Rich and Poor 36 In the U.S. Interest 10 Beyond Mere Survival by Gareth Porter by Shridath Ramphal 38 About OUI Contributors 12 Products of the Earth Summit 14 What's in Agenda 21? page 37 Departments 15 Building the Capacity for Change 5 EPA Roundup by Kathy Sessions 39 Habitat 18 A Guide to International Organizations A poem by W. Luckmann - - 20 Deforestation and the 40 For the Classroom __....._____c - Frontier Lands by Carrie Meyer 42 On the Move page 6 22 The World Bank's Post-Rio Strategy 44 Chronicle by Mohamed T. El-Ashry by Teresa Opheim The U.S. Environmental Protecti on Agency is charged by Congress to protect the nation's land, air, and water sy~tem s. Under a mandate of national environmental laws, the Agency strives to formulate a nd implement action which lead to a compatible balance between human activities and the ability of natural systems to support a nd nurture life. EPA fo1mra/ is published by EPA. The Administrator of EPA has determined tha t the publication of this periodical is neces ary in the trnnsaction of the public business required by law of this Agency. Use of funds for printing this periodical has been approved by the Director of the Office o f Management and Budget. Views expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect EPA policy. o permi sion necessary to reproduce contents except copyrighted photos and other material . Contributions and inquiries arc welcome and s hould be addressed to: Ed itor, EPA /ouma/ (A-107), Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20'160. Presidential Earth Day Address President Clinton announces environmental actions 011 /\pril 21, 1993, Presirlrnt Bill Cli11to11 to our people. Our environmental S/)()kc nt the U.S. Botn11icnl Cnrrlc11s i11 program is based on three principles. Wnslri11gto11, DC, to cc!rl1mtc fnrtli Dny. First, we think you can't have a healthy I frrc nrc excerpts from liis nrlrlrcss, wliicli economy without a healthy environ­ 011 ti ined pri11ci11fl's 1111rl /JO!icy d ircct io11~ for ment. We need not choose between rcclni111i11s n clm11 c11uiro11111mt: breathing clean air and bringing home secure paychecks. The fact is that our environmental problems result not from robust growth, but from reckless '' I f there is one ommitment that growth. The fact is that only a prosper­ define~ our people, it i. our ous society can have the confidence and devotion to the rich and expan­ the means to protect its environment. sive land we have inherited. From the /\nd the fact is healthy communities first Americans to the present day, our and environmentall y sound products people have lived in awe of the power, and services do best in today's eco­ the majesty, and the be;rnty of the nomic competition. forest, the river , and the streams of "That's why our poli ies must America. That love of the land, which protect our environment, promote flows like a mighty current through this economic growth, and provide millions land and through our character, burst of new high-skill, high-wage jobs. into service on the first Emth Day in "Second, we want to protect the our effort to reinvent government, to 1970' environment at home and abroad. In an make it your partner and not your "Just as we yearn lo come together era of global economics, global epidem­ overseer, to lead by example nnd not by as i1 people, we yearn to move beyond ics, and global environmental hazards, bureaucratic fi.1 t .... the fal se choices that the last few years a central challenge of our time is to "Our Jong-term strategy invests have imposed upon us. For loo long, promote our n<ltional interest in the more in pollution prevention, energy we have been told that we have to context of its connectedness with the efficiency, and so!Clr energy; in renew­ choose between the economy and the rest of the world. W e share our atmo­ Clble energy, environmental restoration, environment; between our jobs; sphere, our planet, our destiny with all and water trcCltment-all of which can bl'lwecn our obligations to our own the peoples of this '"'orld. And the be found in the five-year budget that pcopil' and our responsibilities to the policies I outline today will protect all we have presented to the Congress. future and to the rest of the world; of us becCluse that is the only way we These investments will create tens of between public action and private can protect any of us. thousands of new jobs, and they will ' onomy. "And, third, we must move beyond save tens of thousands more. Because "I am here today in the hope that we the antagonisms among business, when we save energy and resources, ca n together take a different ourse of government, and individunl citizens. we will have m ore to invest in creating action, to offer a new set of challenges The policies 1 outline today arc part of new jobs and providing better living 2 EPA JOURNAL standards .... biotechnical industries of our country ''Today, I am signing an executive "I've asked the Energy Department, identify new sources of food, fiber, and order which commits the federal the Commerce Department, and EPA to medication. government to buy thousands more assess current environmental technolo­ "We also must take the lead in American-made vehicles, using clean, gies and create a strategic plan to give addressing the challenge of global domestic fuels such as natural gas, our companies the trade development, warming that could make our planet ethanol, methanol, and electric power. promotional efforts, and technical and its climate more hostile to human This will reduce our demand for assistance they need to turn these life. Today, I announce our nation's foreign oil, reduce air pollution, advances into jobs here in America, as commitment to reducing our emis­ promote promising technologies, well as to help promote a better sions of greenhouse gases to their 1990 promote American companies, create environment.