ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATION TREATY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1978 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 4221, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Claiborne Pell, presiding. Present: Senators Sparkman (Chairman), Pell, Clark, Javits, and Percy. Senator PELL. The Committee on Foreign Relations will come to order. OPENING STATEMENT I am particularly pleased that the first item on the agenda is the environmental modification treaty. [Text of treaty follows:] (1) 95TH CONGRESS } SENATE { EXECUTIVE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF MILITARY OR ANY OTHER HOSTILE USE MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TRANSMITTING THE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF MILITARY OR SEPTEMBER 22, 1978.-Treaty was read the first time and, together with U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1978 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL THE WHITE HOUSE, September 22, 1978. To the Senate of the United States: I am transmitting herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, signed at Geneva on May 18, 1977. The Convention is the result of extensive study, debate, and negotiation at the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament at Geneva and at the United Nations. It seeks to avert the dangers resulting from the hostile use of environmental modification techniques "having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other State Party." In 1973, growing awareness of the need for protecting our environment led to the adoption of Senate Resolution 71 which urged the Executive Branch to negotiate a treaty prohibiting environmental warfare. The United States and the Soviet Union, after three rounds of bilateral consultations, tabled identical draft texts of a multilateral convention at the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in 1975. Negotiations on the basis of these texts resulted in the document I am transmitting to you today. I am also sending with the Convention four Understandings relating to Articles I, II, III and VIII, respectively. These Understandings are not incorporated into the Convention. They are part of the negotiating record and were included in the report transmitted by the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament to the United Nations. The provisions of the Convention and the Understandings are described in detail in the accompanying report of the Department of State. By prohibiting the hostile use of potentially disastrous environmental modification techniques, the Convention represents one more advance in the field of arms control to which my Administration is firmly committed. I recommend that the Senate give prompt consideration to the Convention, and advise and consent to its ratification. JIMMY CARTER. (1) LETTER OF SUBMITTAL The PRESIDENT, The White House. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 31, 1978. THE PRESIDENT: I have the honor to submit to you, with the recommendation that it be transmitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification, the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, together with the Understandings associated with the Convention. This Convention, signed on behalf of the United States on May 18, 1977, is the product of a number of initiatives, the first of which was taken more than five years ago. In July of 1972, the Subcommittee on Oceans and International Environment of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations conducted hearings on Senate Resolution 281 expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should seek the agreement of other governments to a treaty prohibiting the use of environmental or geophysical modification activity as a weapon of war. On February 22, 1973, Senate Resolution 281 was reintroduced as Senate Resolution 71, which was passed on July 11, 1973, by a vote of 82 to 10. In early 1974, at the request of the President, the Department of Defense carried out a review of the military aspects of weather modification and other environmental modification techniques. This review was followed by an interagency study of possible international restraints on these techniques. Later that year, at the Moscow summit meeting on July 3, 1974, the United States and the Soviet Union issued a joint statement pledging to hold discussions to consider the dangers of environmental warfare and possible measures to overcome such dangers. The sessions were held in late 1974 and 1975, which resulted in agreed language for a multilateral convention. On August 21, 1975, the United States and the Soviet Union tabled identical draft texts of a convention at the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (CCD) in Geneva. During the 1976 session of the CCD, representatives from 25 countries addressed the draft convention at 28 plenary meetings. In addition, the CCD formed an Ad Hoc Environmental Modification Working Group, composed of representatives from all 30 CCD participating member countries which negotiated a revised text. On September 2, 1976, the CCD transmitted this revised text, together with a set of Understandings relating to Articles I, II, III and VIII of the Convention, to the thirty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly. After extended debate, the First Committee recommended to the General Assembly the adoption of its draft resolution referring (3) the Convention to all States for consideration, signature, and ratification, and requesting that the Secretary-General, as Depositary, open the Convention for signature at the earliest possible date. On December 10, 1976, the General Assembly formally adopted this resolution by a vote of 90 to 8 with 30 abstentions. The Convention was opened for signature in Geneva on May 18, 1977, and was initially signed by thirty-four States, including the United States and the Soviet Union. The Convention consists of a preamble, 10 operative paragraphs, and an annex. The preamble sets forth the premises and objectives of the parties. The first and second preambular paragraphs indicate the parties' interest in consolidating peace, halting the arms race and working towards general complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, as well as their desire to save mankind from the dangers presented by new means of warfare, and their determination to continue negotiations toward progress on further measures in the field of disarmament. The third preambular paragraph recognizes the fact that scientific and technical advances may open up new possibilities for modifying the environment. The fourth preambular paragraph recalls the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment.1 The fifth and sixth preambular paragraphs refer to the beneficial and harmful effects, respectively, which may result from the use of environmental modification techniques. The seventh preambular paragraph expresses the parties' desire to prohibit effectively the hostile use of environmental modification techniques and their willingness to work towards achieving the objective of eliminating the dangers to mankind from such use. The final preambular paragraph states the parties' desire to contribute to the strengthening of trust among nations and to the further improvement of the international situation in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. In paragraph 1 of Article I the States Parties undertake not to engage "in military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage, or injury to any other State Party." In paragraph 2 they further undertake "not to assist, encourage or induce any State, group of States or international organization to engage in activities contrary to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article." According to the Understanding related to this Article the terms "widespread, long-lasting and severe", for purposes of this Convention only, are to be interpreted as follows: (a) "widespread": encompassing an area on the scale of several hundred square kilometers; (b) "long-lasting": lasting for a period of months, or approximately a season; (c) "severe": involving serious or significant disruption or harm to human life, natural and economic resources or other assets. 1 Adopted at Stockholm in 1972 by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which met to consider "the need for a common outlook and common principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment." |