CHAPTER XXVI

DISARMAMENT1Convention on the prohibition of military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniquesNew York, 10 December 1976Entry into force5 October 1978, in accordance with article IX(3).Registration5 October 1978, No. 17119StatusSignatories48Parties78TextUnited Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 1108, p. 151 and depositary notification C.N.263.1978.TREATIES-12 of 27 October 1978 (rectification of the English text).The Convention was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution <a href="/doc/source/docs/A_RES_31_72-E.pdf" target="_blank">31/72</a><superscript>1</superscript> of 10 December 1976. In application of paragraph 2 of the said resolution, the Secretary-General decided to open the Convention for signature and ratification by States from 18 to 31 May 1977 at Geneva, Switzerland. Subsequently, the Convention was transmitted to the Headquarters of the Organization of the United Nations at New York, where it was open for signature by States until 4 October 1978.

ParticipantSignatureRatification, Accession(a), Succession(d)Afghanistan22 Oct 1985 aAlgeria19 Dec 1991 aAntigua and Barbuda25 Oct 1988 dArgentina20 Mar 1987 aArmenia15 May 2002 aAustralia31 May 1978 7 Sep 1984 Austria17 Jan 1990 aBangladesh 3 Oct 1979 aBelarus18 May 1977 7 Jun 1978 Belgium18 May 1977 12 Jul 1982 Benin10 Jun 1977 30 Jun 1986 Bolivia (Plurinational State of)18 May 1977 Brazil 9 Nov 1977 12 Oct 1984 Bulgaria18 May 1977 31 May 1978 Cabo Verde 3 Oct 1979 aCameroon18 Apr 2011 aCanada18 May 1977 11 Jun 1981 Chile26 Apr 1994 aChina<superscript>2</superscript> 8 Jun 2005 aCosta Rica 7 Feb 1996 aCuba23 Sep 1977 10 Apr 1978 Cyprus 7 Oct 1977 12 Apr 1978 Czech Republic<superscript>3</superscript>22 Feb 1993 dDemocratic People's Republic of Korea 8 Nov 1984 aDemocratic Republic of the Congo28 Feb 1978 Denmark18 May 1977 19 Apr 1978 Dominica 9 Nov 1992 dEgypt 1 Apr 1982 aEstonia14 Apr 2011 aEthiopia18 May 1977 Finland18 May 1977 12 May 1978 Germany<superscript>4,5</superscript>18 May 1977 24 May 1983 Ghana21 Mar 1978 22 Jun 1978 Greece23 Aug 1983 aGuatemala21 Mar 1988 aHoly See27 May 1977 Honduras16 Aug 2010 aHungary18 May 1977 19 Apr 1978 Iceland18 May 1977 India15 Dec 1977 15 Dec 1978 Iran (Islamic Republic of)18 May 1977 Iraq15 Aug 1977 Ireland18 May 1977 16 Dec 1982 Italy18 May 1977 27 Nov 1981 Japan 9 Jun 1982 aKazakhstan25 Apr 2005 aKuwait 2 Jan 1980 aKyrgyzstan15 Jun 2015 aLao People's Democratic Republic13 Apr 1978 5 Oct 1978 Lebanon18 May 1977 Liberia18 May 1977 Lithuania16 Apr 2002 aLuxembourg18 May 1977 Malawi 5 Oct 1978 aMauritius 9 Dec 1992 aMongolia18 May 1977 19 May 1978 Morocco18 May 1977 Netherlands (Kingdom of the)<superscript>6</superscript>18 May 1977 15 Apr 1983 New Zealand<superscript>7</superscript> 7 Sep 1984 aNicaragua11 Aug 1977 6 Sep 2007 Niger17 Feb 1993 aNorway18 May 1977 15 Feb 1979 Pakistan27 Feb 1986 aPanama13 May 2003 aPapua New Guinea28 Oct 1980 aPoland18 May 1977 8 Jun 1978 Portugal18 May 1977 Republic of Korea 2 Dec 1986 aRomania18 May 1977 6 May 1983 Russian Federation18 May 1977 30 May 1978 Sao Tome and Principe 5 Oct 1979 aSierra Leone12 Apr 1978 Slovakia<superscript>3</superscript>28 May 1993 dSlovenia20 Apr 2005 aSolomon Islands19 Jun 1981 dSpain18 May 1977 19 Jul 1978 Sri Lanka 8 Jun 1977 25 Apr 1978 St. Lucia27 May 1993 dSt. Vincent and the Grenadines27 Apr 1999 dState of Palestine29 Dec 2017 aSweden27 Apr 1984 aSwitzerland 5 Aug 1988 aSyrian Arab Republic 4 Aug 1977 Tajikistan12 Oct 1999 aTunisia11 May 1978 11 May 1978 Türkiye18 May 1977 Uganda18 May 1977 Ukraine18 May 1977 13 Jun 1978 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland18 May 1977 16 May 1978 United States of America18 May 1977 17 Jan 1980 Uruguay16 Sep 1993 aUzbekistan26 May 1993 aViet Nam26 Aug 1980 aYemen<superscript>8</superscript>18 May 1977 20 Jul 1977 Argentina<superscript>9</superscript>The Argentine Republic interprets the terms "widespread, long-lasting or severe effects" in article I, paragraph 1, of the Convention in accordance with the definitions agreed upon in the understanding on that article. It likewise interprets articles II, III and VIII in accordance with the relevant understandings.AustriaReservation:"Considering the obligations resulting from its status as a permanently neutral state, the Republic of Austria declares a reservation to the effect that its co-operation within the frame work of this Convention cannot exceed the limits determined by the Status of permanent neutrality and membership with the United Nations."Germany<superscript>5</superscript>Upon signature:"With the proviso that the correct designation of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Russian language is `Federativnuju Respubliku Germaniju'."<right>16 June 1977</right>"The correct designation of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Russian language following the preposition `sa' in the Russian text was spelled out in the afore-mentioned proviso as `Federativnuju Respubliku Germaniju'."GuatemalaReservation:Guatemala accepts the text of article III, on condition that the use of environmental modification techniques for peaceful purposes does not adversely affect its territory or the use of its natural resources.Kuwait<superscript>10</superscript>Reservation:This Convention binds the State of Kuwait only towards States Parties thereto. Its obligatory character shall <i>ipso facto </i> terminate with respect to any hostile state which does not abide by the prohibition contained therein.Understanding:"It is understood that accession to the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any other hostile use of Environmental Modification Techniques, done in Geneva, 1977, does not mean in any way recognition of Israel by the State of Kuwait. Furthermore, no treaty relation will arise between the State of Kuwait and Israel."Netherlands (Kingdom of the)Declaration:"The Kingdom of the Netherlands accepts the obligations laid down in article 1 of the said Convention as extending to states which are not a party to the Convention and which act in conformity with article 1 of the Convention."New Zealand"The Government of New Zealand hereby declares its interpretation that nothing in the Convention detracts from or limits the obligations of States to refrain from military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques which are contrary to international law".Republic of Korea"It is the understanding of the Government of the Republic of Korea that any technique for deliberately changing the natural state of rivers falls within the meaning of the term 'environmental modification techniques' as defined in article II of the Convention."It is further understood that military or any other hostile use of such techniques, which could cause flooding, inundation, reduction in the water-level, drying up, destruction of hydrotechnical installations or other harmful consequences, comes within the scope of the Convention, provided it meets the criteria set out in article I therefore."SwitzerlandBecause of the obligation incumbent upon it by virtue of its status of perpetual neutrality, Switzerland must make a general reservation specifying that its co-operation in the framework of this Convention cannot go beyond the limits imposed by this status. This reservation refers, in particular, to article V, paragraph 5, of the Convention, and to any similar clause which may replace or supplement this provision in the Convention (or in any other arrangement).TürkiyeUpon signature:Interpretative statement:"In the opinion of the Turkish Government the terms ‘wide- spread’, ‘long lasting’ and ‘severe effects’ contained in the Con- vention need to be clearly defined. So long as this clarification is not made the Government of Turkey will be compelled to in- terpret itself the terms in question and consequently it reserves the right to do so as and when required."Furthermore, the Government of Turkey believes that the difference between `military or any other hostile purposes' and `peaceful purposes' should be more clearly defined so as to pre- vent subjective evaluations."

ParticipantDate of receipt of the notificationTerritories

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland<superscript>11</superscript>16 May 1978United Kingdom Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in the Island of Cyprus, Association of Caribbean States, Brunei, Solomon Islands and United Kingdom Territories1<i> Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-first Session, Supplement No. 39 </i> (A/31/39), p. 36.2With the following declaration with respect of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region:In accordance with the provisions of Article 153 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and Article 138 of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Government of the People's Republic of China decides that the Convention shall apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.3Czechoslovakia had signed and ratified the Convention on 18 May 1977 and 12 May 1978, respectively. See also note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.4See note 1 under “Germany” regarding Berlin (West) in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.5The German Democratic Republic had signed and ratified the Convention on 18 May 1977 and 25 May 1978, respectively. See also note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.6For the Kingdom in Europe and the Netherlands Antilles. See also note 1 under “Netherlands” regarding Aruba/Netherlands Antilles in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.7The accession shall also apply to the Cook Islands and Niue.8Democratic Yemen had acceded to the Convention on 12 June 1979. See also note 1 under “Yemen” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.9The Government of Argentina has specified that the understandings referred to in the declaration are the Understandings adopted as part of the report of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament to the General Assembly at its thirty-first session, published under the symbol A/31/27. [Report of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament to the General Assembly (Volume I, Annex I).]10On 23 June 1980, the Secretary-General received from the Government of Israel the following communication concerning the above-mentioned understanding:"The Government of Israel has noted the political character of the statement made by the Government of Kuwait. In the view of the Government of Israel, this Convention is not the proper place for making such political pronouncements. Moreover, the said declaration cannot in any way affect whatever obligations are binding upon Kuwait, under general international law or under particular conventions. Insofar as concerns the substance of the matter, the Government of Israel will adopt towards the Government of Kuwait an attitude of complete reciprocity."11See note 2 under “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” regarding Hong Kong in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.