Compromise and accommodation are the two essential policies required by states to save planet Earth. Substantiate the statement in the light of the ongoing negotiations between the North and South on environmental issues.

The north and south had differences between themselves regarding the framing and executions of policies related to conservation of environment. While the industrialised northern nations wanted all the countries to be equally responsible for climate change and implement policies equally, the southern countries wanted the north to hold more responsibility as they’d already done their share of industrialisation and contributed more to climate change than the southern countries. The ongoing negotiations between the north and the south are-

• The north is more concerned about ozone depletion and global warming while the south wants to look at the issue of relationship between economic growth and ecological conservation.

• The 1992 United Nations framework Convention on climate change also provides that the parties should act to protect climate on ‘the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’.

• In view of different contribution of global environmental degradation, states have common but differentiated responsibilities.

• Since the developing countries are still under process of industrialisation, they should be given some exemption in restrictions imposed by conventions, protocols etc. and should be taken into consideration while process of development, application and interpretation of rules of International Environmental Law.