The United Nations has long been involved in assisting countries in the management of their natural resources on a sustainable basis.
The General Assembly declared in 1952 that developing countries have "the right to determine freely the use of their natural resources" and that they must use such resources towards realizing their economic development plans in accordance with their national interests.
The importance of natural resources for economic development was further emphasized in 1970, when the Economic and Social Council established the Committee on Natural Resources. The committee develops guidelines on policies and strategies for ECOSOC and governments, reviews arrangements to coordinate United Nations activities in natural resources development and evaluates trends and issues concerning natural resources exploration and development, as well as prospects for selected water and mineral resources. The committee is also concerned with the availability and sustainability of resources.
Water
During the 1970s, the Committee on Natural Resources played a central role in focusing world attention on another crisis-the status of the global stock of water resources to meet human, commercial and agricultural needs. As a result of an initiative of the committee, the United Nations Water Conference was convened in 1977 in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The conference adopted the Mar del Plata Action Plan to guide international efforts to manage, develop and use water resources. Giving impetus to the action plan, the General Assembly, in 1980, launched the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990). The decade helped some 1.3 billion people in the developing countries gain access to safe drinking water.
An International Conference on Water and the Environment (Dublin, 1992), was convened jointly by 21 United Nations agencies in preparation for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. A major thrust of the United Nations activities in this area is geared towards sustainable development of fragile and finite water resources, which are coming under increasing stress through population growth, pollution and increasing demand for agricultural and industrial purposes.
In 1994, the Committee on Natural Resources requested the Secretary-General to prepare a report on the state of the world's freshwater resources, to be considered by a special session of the General Assembly in 1997. This was reinforced by a request from the Commission on Sustainable Development that the United Nations and its specialized agencies carry out a comprehensive assessment of freshwater resources, to identify the availability of such resources and make projections of future needs.
Energy
During the 1970s, with the rise and volatility of petroleum costs which affected the economies of all nations, particularly those of the poorer countries, and the growing awareness that known supplies of petroleum would, in the long run, be unable to meet global requirements, more attention was focused on new and renewable sources of energy.
This led the General Assembly to convene the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy (Nairobi, 1981). The conference examined alternative forms of energy, including solar energy, biomass energy, wind power, hydropower, fuelwood and charcoal, geothermal energy, ocean energy, oil shale and tar sands, peat and the use of draught animals for energy purposes. It adopted the Nairobi Program of Action for the Development and Utilization of New and Renewable Sources of Energy, a blueprint for national and international action endorsed by the Assembly in 1981.
In this field, the Committee on New and Renewable Sources of Energy and Energy for Development acts as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council.
Addressing another area of significance in the energy field-nuclear energy for the economic and social development of developing countries-the Assembly in 1977 set in motion arrangements for an international conference, the first global effort in this field: the United Nations Conference for the Promotion of International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (Geneva, 1987). The high-level participants expressed views and exchanged experience on topics ranging from the production of electricity to the application of nuclear techniques to food and agriculture, medicine, hydrology, research and industry.
The United Nations maintains an active program of technical cooperation in the field of natural resources and energy. The program comprises advisory services on policies and strategies; project and program formulation and implementation in natural resources management; and meetings, symposia and workshops, together with a publications program.
To assist developing countries requesting short-term advisory missions, the United Nations provides the services of its technical advisers. These experts provide advice on policy, the evaluation, exploration and exploitation of indigenous resources, the transfer of technology and the design of projects and feasibility studies.
During the last two decades, hundreds of technical cooperation and pre-investment projects in natural resources and energy involving hundreds of millions of dollars have been implemented. A roughly equivalent amount was provided by the recipient governments in the form of national staff, facilities and local operating costs. As a result, each year some 300 field projects assist developing countries in the development of their natural resources. Such projects strengthen national capacities and stimulate further investment.
From Basic Facts About the United Nations. Published by United Nations Department of Public Information. Copyright 1995 United Nations.
