Environmental Science (2+1)

International Bodies

• There are a number of international and national organizations, agencies and programmes involved in different areas of environment, forestry, wildlife and other relevant aspects. Some of the important bodies are as follows.

International Bodies

1. Earth scan: An agency, founded by UNEP in 1976 that commissions original articles on environmental matter and sells them as features to newspapers and magazines, especially in developing countries.
2. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES): An international forum, whose membership for agreement is open to all countries. For India, the Ministry of Environment and Forests functions as nodal agency for participation in international agreements.
3. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): This is an independent Federal Agency of the U.S. Government established in 1970. It deals with protection of environment by air, water, solid wastes, radiation, pesticides noise etc.
4. European Economic Community (EEC): It is community of 12 European nations with sound political, economic and legal base. The community has joint agricultural and scientific programmes. It has programmes of framing and implementation of coordinated policy for environmental improvement and conservation of natural resources. CPCB, India has taken up projects on air quality monitoring with assistance of EEC.
5. Human Exposure Assessment Location (HEAL): The project is a part of the Health Related Monitoring Programme by WHO in co-operation with UNEP. This project has three components, viz., (i) air monitoring (ii) water quality monitoring and (iii) food contamination monitoring on a global basis.
6. International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU): A non-government organization based in Paris, that encourages the exchange of scientific information, initiates programmes requiring international scientific cooperation and studies and reports on matters related to social and political responsibilities in treatment of scientific community.
7. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN): An autonomous body, founded in 1948 with its Headquarters at Morges, Switzerland, that initiates and promotes scientifically based conservation measures. It also cooperates with United Nations and other intergovernmental agencies and sister bodies of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
8. International Marine Consultative organization (IMCO): It regulates the operation of ship in high seas, from marine water pollution viewpoint.
9. South Asia co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP): This has been recently set up for exchange of professional knowledge and expertise on environmental issues among member countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
10. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). An United Nations agency, found in 1945 to support and implement the efforts of member states to promote education, scientific research and information, and the arts to develop the cultural aspects of world relations. It also holds conferences and seminars, promotes research and exchange of information and provides technical support. Its Headquarters are in Paris. Independently as well as in collaboration with other agencies like UNEP, it supports activities related to environmental quality, human settlements, training to environmental engineers and other socio-cultural programmes related to environment.
11. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): A UN agency, responsible for co-operation of inter-governmental measures for environmental monitoring and protection. It was set up in 1972. There is a voluntary United Nations Environment Fund to finance environmental projects. There is an Environmental Coordination Board, to coordinate the UNEP programmes. Its Headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya. UNEP was founded to study and formulate international guidelines for management of the environment. UNEP is assisting many such programmes in India.
12. World Commission on environment and Development (WCED): This is a 23 member commission, set up in 1984 in pursuance to a UN General Assembly resolution in 1983 to re-examine the critical environmental and development issues and to formulate proposals for them. This is a call for political action to manage better environmental resources to ensure human progress and survival. The commission makes an assessment of the level of understanding and commitment of individuals, voluntary organizations and governmental bodies on environmental issues.
13. Earthwatch Programme: A world wide programme, established in 1972 under the terms of the Declaration on the Human Environment. It monitors trends in the environment, based on a series of monitoring stations. Its activities are coordinated by UNEP.
14. Project Earth: Developed in collaboration with UNEP to inspire and educate young people worldwide on the crucial issues facing the Earth's Environment.
15. Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB): The programme is the outcome of International Biological Programme (IBP) that has already concluded its activities. MAB was formerly launched by UNESCO in 1971.