5162.0: Wednesday, October 24, 2001: 2:30 PM-4:00 PM

Oral Session

Global Environmental Policy: Contemplating the Impact of International Treaties on Environmental Stewardship

The world is increasingly faced with threats to environmental health and sustainable development that cannot be addressed at the national level. A variety of agencies and forums exist within the United Nation systems for improvement of environmental health on a global scale. But do international treaties and declarations really work? Can they be effective tools for societal change, or are they mostly hype and diplomatic formality? What are the factors that ensure success? This session will examine several recent case studies in the areas of children’s health, toxic chemicals, and climate change. It will also preview the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development, and the opportunities it affords to set realistic goals and make measurable progress toward improving health and development worldwide.
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement.
Learning Objectives: 1. The status of three specific international efforts (on children’s health, toxic chemicals, and climate change) to protect and improve environmental health worldwide; 2. Why some international negotiations are more successful than others, and how the participation of various countries (e.g., the United States) and constituencies (e.g. public interest organizations and the public health community) can influence these efforts; and 3. What progress has been made to achieving the goals of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and how can the upcoming 2002 Johannesburg Summit further this progress?
Organizer(s):Susan West
2:30 PMIntroductory Remarks
Robert K. Musil, PhD
2:35 PMChildren's Health: Results from the Second World Summit on Children
Karen Hopfl-Harris, JD
2:55 PMA global public health treaty: eliminating persistent organic pollutants
John Buccini, PhD
3:15 PMClimate change, health and the Kyoto protocol
Robert Watson, PhD
3:35 PMLooking Ahead to the World Summit on Sustainable Development
Brennan Van Dyke
Sponsor:Environment
Cosponsors:Socialist Caucus
CE Credits:CME, Environmental Health, Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA