The Strategy is intended to stimulate a more focussed approach to living re- source conservation and provide policy guidance on how this can be carried out. It concentrates on the main problems directly affecting the achievement of conservation's objectives, and on how to deal with them through conservation. In particular, the Strategy identifies the action needed both to improve conser- vation efficiency and to integrate con- servation and development.

The WCS was commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which together with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) provided the fin- ancial support for its preparation and contributed to the evolution of its basic themes and structure. While the WCS has been prepared by IUCN and primar- ily reflects IUCN's views and approaches it is intended that the Strategy represent a consensus of policy on conservation efforts in the context of world develop-

ment. To this end the final draft was submitted to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Educa- tional, Scientific and Cultural Organi- zation (UNESCO), as well as to UNEP and WWF, and all four organizations carefully reviewed it and made signif- icant contributions to it. The w c s is endorsed by the Ecosystem Conserva- tion Group (ECG)the members of which are UNEP, FAO, UNESCO and IUCN. []

Policies and Procedures Relating to Economic Development

In 1978, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Pro- gramme adopted a Decision* in pursu- ance of which tripartite discussions were initiated with the World Bank and the United Nations Development Pro- gramme in order to establish modalities for ensuring that multilateral develop- ment financing agencies not only adopt a declared policy for introducing envi- ronmental considerations in all projects and programmes f'manced by them, but also develop procedures for implement- in~ that policy.

A meeting was held with multilateral development financing agencies at the World Bank Headquarters in Paris in late 1979. The Draft Declaration of Prin- ciples constituted the principal subject for discussion at the meeting, the basic purpose ofwhichwas to re-affirm a form of commitment to the Principles and Recommendations for Action adopted at the Stockholm Conference in 1972. (Many of the Principles and Recommen- dations for Action were .addressed speci- fically to multilateral development fi- nancing agencies.)

The meeting fully endorsed the Draft Declaration with minor textual changes (see Selected Documents at page 104).

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*Decision 6/6A which reads as follows: The Governing Council "Welcomes the exist- ing and proposed studies of the extent to which environmental factors are taken into account in bilateral and multilateral develop- ment assistance, undertaken with the support of the United Nations Environment Pro- gramme and others, and calls upon all Gov- ernments, as well as the bilateral and multi- lateral aid institutions concerned, to partici- pate fully in, and bring the necessary resources to bear on, devising effective means for assess- ing the environmental impact of development activities, so as to ensure that these activities are environmentally sound".

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Experimental wind turbine. Courtesy: Sandia Laboratories

World Climate Conference

The World Climate Conference, a conference of experts on climate and mankind, held in Geneva from 12 to 23 February 1979, was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization in collaboration with other international bodies. (See Environmental Policy & Law, 5 (2) (1979) 65).

The specialists from many disciplines assembled for the Conference expressed their views concerning climatic variabil- ity and change and the implications for the world community. On the basis of their deliberations they adopted "The Declaration of the World Climate Con- ference" (excerpts, see page 107). []

Environmental Policy and Law, 6 (1980)