About Sustainable Development Multilateral Agreements

One of the major outcomes of the journey to Johannesburg beginning in the early 1970s has been a comprehensive series of multilateral agreements on crucial environmental and sustainability issues. A list of these international conventions and treaties is provided below with links to the original agreement.

• 1970- 1979
• 1980- 1989
• 1990-1999

1970- 1979

• International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (RAMSAR)
• Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof
• Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage
• Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
• Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
• Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears
• Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America Relating to the Exchange of Information on Weather Modification Activities
• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals
• International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage
• Agreement Between Canada and the United States of America on Great Lakes Water Quality, 1978
• International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants
• Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution

1980- 1989

• Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
• Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark for Cooperation relating to the Marine Environment
• Convention of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
• International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL 73/78)
• Treaty between Canada and the United States of America Relating to the Skagit River and Ross Lake, and the Seven Mile Reservoir on the Pend d'Oreille River
• Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution on Long-term Financing of the Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-term Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP)
• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
• Protocol to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions or their Transboundary Fluxes by at least 30 per Cent
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America Concerning the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on the Conservation of the Porcupine Caribou Herd
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer:
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on Arctic Cooperation
• Protocol to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution Concerning the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or their Transboundary Fluxes
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America for Water Supply and Flood Control in the Souris River Basin

1990- 1999

• International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on Air Quality
• Protocol Concerning the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or Their Transboundary Fluxes
• Convention on Biological Diversity
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Russian Federation on Cooperation in the Arctic and the North
• North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation Treaty
• Protocol to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• International Tropical Timber Agreement (1994)
• Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context
• Protocol on Heavy Metals
• Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
• Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-Level Ozone
• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity
• Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade