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Malé Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution and Its Likely Transboundary Effects for South Asia
IRecognizing the potential for increase in air pollution and consequential phenomena due to concentration of pollutant gases, acid rain or acid deposition as well as the impacts on the health of humans and other living organisms in all our countries due to man made and natural causes; and also
Recognizing the potential for increase in transboundary air pollution as a corollary of air pollution in each country; and
Realising that the potential for air pollution increase and its transboundary effects will accumulate in the absence of national measures to abate and prevent such potential; and
Reiterating in this context Principle 21 of the UN declaration on the Human Environment in 1972 which stated that States have, in accordance with the charter of the United Nations and the principle of international laws, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other states or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction;
Keeping in mind that need for constant study and monitoring of the trends in air pollution with a view to understand the extent of our potential for damage to the environment and health in the member countries and taking consequential measures to strengthen and build capacity for such activities;
Stressing the need for development and economic growth that will help build up the quality of life and incomes of all the people of all the region, in particular the poorer sections of the population, having due regard to the need to have a clean and healthy environment;
Emphasising that air pollution issues have to be analysed and managed in the wider framework of human and sustainable development within each country and within the region; and
Drawing from the experience of co-operation in the region in matters like cultural exchange and also from the experience in other regions like Europe and sub-regions of Asia like ASEAN and East Asia.
We declare that countries of this region will initiate and/or carry forward programmes in each country to
| 1. | Assess and analyse the origin and causes, nature, extent and effects of local and regional air pollution, using the in-house in identified institutions, universities, colleges etc., building up or enhancing capacities in them where required; |
| 2. | Develop and/or adopt strategies to prevent and minimise air pollution;
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| 3. | Work in co-operation with each other to set up monitoring arrangements beginning with the study of sulphur and nitrogen and volatile organic compounds emissions, concentrations and deposition;
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| 4. | Co-operate in building up standardised methodologies to monitor phenomena like acid depositions and analyse their impacts without prejudice to the national activities in such fields;
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| 5. | Take up the aforesaid programmes and training programmes which involves then transfer of financial resources and technology and work towards securing incremental assistance from bilateral and multilateral sources;
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| 6. | Encourage economic analysis that will help arriving at optimal results
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| 7. | Engage other key stakeholders for example industry, academic institutions, NGOs, communities and media etc. in the effort and activities.
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We also declare that we shall constantly endeavor to improve national reporting systems and strengthen scientific and academic effort in the understanding and tackling of air pollution issues.
We further declare that we shall continue this process in stages with mutual consultation to draw up and implement national and regional action plans and protocols based on a fuller understanding of transboundary air pollution issues.
We declare that in pursuit of the above, we shall evolve, as appropriate, institutional structures at the national level, including networking, both for the purposes of policy and the technical requirements, and we shall use the good offices of regional, international bilateral and multilateral agencies in this, as appropriate.
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