Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 May 2009
In the industrialized northern hemisphere we are assaulted daily with evidence of the deteriorating quality of the human environment: Rivers are closed to fishing because of dangerous levels of contamination; the safety of important foods is challenged; the foul air that major urban areas have been forced to endure is now spreading like an inkblot into surrounding areas. Lack of early concern about the implications for the environment of the widespread application of modern technology has allowed the problem to grow rapidly into a critical domestic and international issue.
1 General Assembly Resolution 2398 (XXIII), December 3, 1968.
2 See Man's, Impact on the Global Environment: Assessment and Recommendations for Action (Report of the Study of Critical Environmental Problems) (Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press, 1970),Google Scholar Environmental Quality: The Second Annual Report of the Council on Environmental Quality, together with the Message of the President to the Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 08 1971);Google Scholar and Problems of the Human Environment: Report of the Secretary-General (UN Documented E/4667).
3 Inadvertent Climate Modification (Report of the Study of Man's Impact on Climate) (Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press, 1971).Google Scholar
4 Skolnikoff, Eugene B., “The International Functional Implications of Future Technology,” Journal of International Affairs, 1971 (Vol. 25, No. 2), p. 274.Google Scholar
5 See, for example, Report of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UN Document A/CONF.48/PC.9); and Statement by the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on the Human Environment (UN Press Release HE/2, February 8, 1971).
6 On this point see Maurice F. Strong, Development, Environment and the New Global Imperatives: The Future of International Co-operation (Plaunt Lectures delivered at Carlton University, Ottawa, Canada, 1971.)Google Scholar (Mimeographed.)
7 For an example see Lindberg, Leon N., “Integration as a Source of Stress on the European Community System,” International Organization, Spring 1966 (Vol. 20, No. 2), pp. 233–265.Google Scholar
8 Strong, p. 13.
9 For a discussion of inter-issue bargaining in United Nations politics see Kay, David A., “The Impact of African States on the United Nations,” International Organization, Winter 1969 (Vol. 23, No. 1), pp. 20–47.Google Scholar
10 Skolnikoff, , Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 274–275.Google Scholar