ABSTRACT
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) forest negotiations were marked by extensive and widespread disagreement. The North emphasized environmental issues with a perceived global dimension whereas the South's primary concerns were national environmental and developmental problems. The Canadian delegation, noting the G7 proposal for a global forests convention (GFC) at Houston, believed that work towards a global forests convention should begin as soon as possible. PC/65 demonstrates that the UNCED Working Party on Forests, and subsequently the UNCED secretariat, had adopted, completely intact, the formula adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in an attempt to create a global bargain. The unexpected references made to forests as a common heritage of mankind in Abidjan and Caracas may have suggested that latitude existed for meaningful negotiation at PrepCom.
