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Declaration endorsed by 7th Governing Council of
SACEP in April 1998 at Malé, Maldives
Recognizing the potential for increase in
air pollution and consequential phenomena due to concentration
of pollutant gases, acid rain or acid deposition as well as
the impacts on the health of humans and other living organisms
in all our countries due to man made and natural causes; and
also
Recognizing the potential for increase in
transboundary air pollution as a corollary of air pollution in
each country; and
Realising that the potential for air
pollution increase and its transboundary effects will
accumulate in the absence of national measures to abate and
prevent such potential; and
Reiterating in this context Principle 21 of
the UN declaration on the Human Environment in 1972 which
stated that States have, in accordance with the charter of the
United Nations and the principle of international laws, the
sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to
their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to
ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do
not cause damage to the environment of other states or of
areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction;
Keeping in mind that need for constant study
and monitoring of the trends in air pollution with a view to
understand the extent of our potential for damage to the
environment and health in the member countries and taking
consequential measures to strengthen and build capacity for
such activities;
Stressing the need for development and
economic growth that will help build up the quality of life
and incomes of all the people of all the region, in particular
the poorer sections of the population, having due regard to
the need to have a clean and healthy environment;
Emphasising that air pollution issues have
to be analysed and managed in the wider framework of human and
sustainable development within each country and within the
region; and
Drawing from the experience of co-operation
in the region in matters like cultural exchange and also from
the experience in other regions like Europe and sub-regions of
Asia like ASEAN and East Asia.
We declare that countries of this region
will initiate and/or carry forward programmes in each country
to
- Assess and analyse the origin and causes,
nature, extent and effects of local and regional air
pollution, using the in-house in identified institutions,
universities, colleges etc., building up or enhancing
capacities in them where required;
- Develop and/or adopt strategies to
prevent and minimise air pollution;
- Work in co-operation with each other to
set up monitoring arrangements beginning with the study of
sulphur and nitrogen and volatile organic compounds
emissions, concentrations and deposition;
- Co-operate in building up standardised
methodologies to monitor phenomena like acid depositions
and analyse their impacts without prejudice to the
national activities in such fields;
- Take up the aforesaid programmes and
training programmes which involves then transfer of
financial resourcesand technology and work towards
securing incremental assistance from bilateral and
multilateral sources;
- Encourage economic analysis that will
help arriving at optimal results
- Engage other key stakeholders for example
industry, academic institutions, NGOs, communities and
media etc. in the effort and activities.
We also declare that we shall constantly
endeavor to improve national reporting systems and strengthen
scientific and academic effort in the understanding and
tackling of air pollution issues.
We further declare that we shall continue
this process in stages with mutual consultation to draw up and
implement national and regional action plans and protocols
based on a fuller understanding of transboundary air pollution
issues.
We declare that in pursuit of the above, we
shall evolve, as appropriate, institutional structures at the
national level, including networking, both for the purposes of
policy and the technical requirements, and we shall use the
good offices of regional, international bilateral and
multilateral agencies in this, as appropriate
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