Environmental Diplomacy Intro

At the UN Conference for Environment and Development in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro at the latest, it became generally accepted that environmental pollution is not purely a national, but rather a global topic that can only be addressed in international cooperation. With the term ‘sustainable development' as well as the adoption of the conventions on the protection of world climate and biological diversity, the Rio conference developed objectives for state action that increasingly influence foreign political structures and decision-making processes. In addition, this sector reflects the growing convergence of foreign, environmental, development and security policy areas. The environmental policy sector thus draws attention to various links to other foreign policy areas, for example, trade, development or security policy. International environmental diplomacy, bilateral environmental cooperation as well as environmental policy as a contribution to regional stability also comprise an increasing number of civil society actors and private industry companies in addition to classical foreign policy actors. This 'new' constellation of actors also clearly shows the results of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which took place in 2002 in Johannesburg. In addition to the implementation of objectives of international environmental regimes as well as the Millennium Development Goals, a number of partnerships were agreed upon in order to achieve sustainable development. These partnerships comprise actors from government, civil society and private industry as well as international organizations.