In the Rio Declaration, 27 fundamental principles were proclaimed that all countries should adhere to, with the aim of establishing a new and equitable global partnership by creating new levels of cooperation between States, key sectors of societies and people.
Efforts were made to reach international agreements that would respect the interests of all and protect the integrity of the global environmental and development system, recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the Earth. These Fundamental Principles proclaim that:.
Principle 1: Human beings are at the center of concerns related to sustainable development. They have the right to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.
Principle 2: In accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, States have the sovereign right to use their own resources in accordance with their own environmental and development policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities carried out within their jurisdiction or under their control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
Principle 3: The right to development must be exercised in a way that equitably responds to the development and environmental needs of present and future generations.
Principle 4: In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection must be an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation.
Principle 5: All States and all people must cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an essential requirement for sustainable development, in order to reduce disparities in living standards and better respond to the needs of the majority of the world's people.
Principle 6: Special priority should be given to the special situation and needs of developing countries, in particular the least developed and most environmentally vulnerable countries. International measures taken with respect to the environment and development should also take into account the interests and needs of all countries.
Principle 7: States should cooperate in a spirit of global solidarity to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. Given that they have contributed to varying degrees to the degradation of the global environment, States have common but differentiated responsibilities. Developed countries recognize their responsibility in the international pursuit of sustainable development, given the pressures their societies exert on the global environment and the technologies and financial resources at their disposal.
Principle 8: To achieve sustainable development and a better quality of life for all people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.
Principle 9: States should cooperate in strengthening their own capacity to achieve sustainable development, increasing scientific knowledge through the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge, and intensifying the development, adaptation, dissemination and transfer of technologies, including new and innovative technologies.
Principle 10: The best way to deal with environmental issues is with the participation of all interested citizens, at the appropriate level. At the national level, everyone should have adequate access to environmental information available to public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, as well as the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States must facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information available to everyone. Effective access to judicial and administrative procedures, including compensation for damages and relevant remedies, must be provided.
Principle 11: States must enact effective environmental laws. Environmental standards, management objectives and priorities should reflect the environmental and development context to which they apply. The standards applied by some countries may be inadequate and represent an unjustified social and economic cost for other countries, particularly developing countries.
Principle 12: States should cooperate in promoting a favorable and open international economic system that will lead to economic growth and sustainable development of all countries, in order to better address the problems of environmental degradation. Trade policy measures for environmental purposes should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a veiled restriction on international trade. Taking unilateral measures to solve environmental problems that occur outside the jurisdiction of the importing country should be avoided. Measures to address transboundary or global environmental problems should, to the extent possible, be based on international consensus.
Principle 13: States should develop national legislation regarding liability and compensation for victims of pollution and other environmental damage. States should also cooperate expeditiously and more decisively in the development of new international laws on liability and compensation for the adverse effects of environmental damage caused by activities carried out within their jurisdiction, or under their control, in areas outside their jurisdiction.
Principle 14: States should cooperate effectively to discourage or prevent the relocation and transfer to other States of any activities and substances that cause serious environmental degradation or are considered harmful to human health.
Principle 15: In order to protect the environment, States should widely apply the precautionary approach according to their capabilities. Where there is a threat of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of absolute scientific certainty should not be used as a reason to postpone the adoption of cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.
Principle 16: National authorities should seek to promote the internalization of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the criterion that the polluter must, in principle, bear the costs of pollution, taking due account of the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.
Principle 17: An environmental impact assessment should be undertaken, as a national instrument, for any proposed activity that is likely to have a significant negative impact on the environment and that is subject to the decision of a competent national authority.
Principle 18: States must immediately notify other States of natural disasters or other emergency situations that may produce sudden harmful effects on the environment of those States. The international community must do everything possible to help affected States.
Principle 19: States should provide relevant information, and prior and timely notification, to States potentially affected by activities that may have significant adverse transboundary environmental effects, and should consult with those States at an early date and in good faith.
Principle 20: Women play a fundamental role in environmental management and development. It is, therefore, essential to have their full participation to achieve sustainable development.
Principle 21: The creativity, ideals and courage of the world's youth should be mobilized to forge a global alliance to achieve sustainable development and ensure a better future for all.
Principle 22: Indigenous people and their communities, as well as other local communities, play a fundamental role in environmental management and development due to their traditional knowledge and practices. States should duly recognize and support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective participation in achieving sustainable development.
Principle 23: The environment and natural resources of peoples subjected to oppression, domination and occupation must be protected.
Principle 24: War is, by definition, the enemy of sustainable development. Consequently, States must respect the provisions of international law that protect the environment in times of armed conflict, and cooperate in its further development, as necessary.
Principle 25: Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and inseparable.
Principle 26: States must peacefully resolve all environmental disputes by appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
Principle 27: States and individuals shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of solidarity in the implementation of the principles enshrined in this Declaration and in the further development of international law in the field of sustainable development.