Work on climate treaty begins.

The date 14 June 1989 marked a major turning point in the history of South-East Asia, as well as international refugee policy. It was then that the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) for Indo-Chinese refugees was adopted, establishing a legal framework to address the problem of refugees and asylum seekers from Viet Nam and Laos.

Two working groups-on commitments and financing on legal and institutional mechanisms-began debating major issues, including how to make future climate protection measures compatible with economic growth and the need to further develop local and indigenous technology.

In a message to the session, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, Mostafa K. Tolba, said that there was increasing scientific evidence of global warming, as well as an urgent need for action. There was a more pressing need for "an effective convention with commitment and clout", he stressed.

The Committee is scheduled to meet again in Nairobi from 9 to 20 September 1991. Its goal is to have a draft convention ready for signing during the UN Conference on Environment and Development, to be held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It was generally accepted at the Committee session that developed countries, which were the source of most greenhouse-gas emissions, should bear a corresponding responsibility at the national and international levels. Measures to be taken in developing countries should be compatible with economic growth.

To understand better the causes and impact of climate change and to devise solutions, it was felt that more international cooperation was needed in the areas of systematic observation, research and information exchange. Many delegations proposed steps to transfer clean and environmentally viable technology to developing countries on preferential terms.

Opinions diverged as to how to help developing countries pay for the environmental measures they will commit themselves to implement under the convention. Some said that a special fund should be established; others favoured channelling additional resources through existing financial mechanisms.

Representatives from small-island States expressed concern over their capacity to survive a rise in sea levels resulting from melting polar ice-caps, which many scientists see as a possible consequence of global warming. These tiny countries are already feeling the impact of climate change and require financial assistance to cope with sea-level rise, increased cyclone activity and coral bleaching, it was stated.

Any legal or institutional mechanism created by the convention should respect national sovereignty and not be intrusive or supranational, many participants said. Some sort of nonadversarial review mechanism that did not focus exclusively on emissions would probably be appropriate, it was suggested.