The recognition of the need for a multilateral agreement with the world's major whaling nations on board was landmark, and paved the way for other agreements in future, such as the near-global ban on the ivory trade.

Another significant conference was the so-called "Earth Summit," in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This summit resulted was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and produced non-binding commitments by signatory nations to reduce their output of greenhouse gases.

An ongoing conference is the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which is currently meeting in Brazil and will consider the fate of the Atlantic bluefin tuna, whose stocks have become severely depleted in manner similar to the experience of the whaling industry in the early part of the 20th century.

Many agreements have entered into international environmental law. A binding agreement that flowed from the UNFCCC was...
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