REPRESENTATIVES of the 23 nations of the Council of Europe last week
adopted a set of principles for protecting soil, though only 10 voted to
enshrine the principles into a binding convention in 1993. The delegates
agreed that pollution, erosion and loss of soil through bad urban planning
are problems of deepening concern.
The delegates, including some environmental ministers, also agreed to
consider a common convention on liability for environmental damage. Pending
the success of discussions between legal and environmental experts, a draft
of such a convention could be ready by 1992, said Miet Smets, the Belgian
environment minister.
