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THE DAGOMYS DECLARATION OF THE PUGWASH COUNCIL
Issued September 1988


     The 38th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs 
met in Dagomys, near Sochi, USSR, from August 29 to September 
3, 1988.  The participants comprised 187 scientists, other 
scholars, and public figures - as well as 28 students - from 41 
countries, and four observers from international organizations.

     A theme that emerged from these deliberations with particular 
force and clarity was the need for  more widespread appreciation 
of the ways in which growing problems of environmental disruption, 
underdevelopment in the South, and over consumption in the North 
relate to each other, link the interests of all the world's 
peoples, and interact with the problem of avoiding war that has 
long been the core concern of Pugwash.  Convinced that the 
importance and timeliness of this conception of the interconected-
ness of the threats to human well-being justifies special efforts 
to communicate it, we are taking the unusual step of issuing a 
separate "Dagomys Declaration of the Pugwash Council" on this 
topic:

     We live in an interdependent world of increasing risks.  
Thirty-three years ago, the Russell-Einstein Manifesto warned 
humanity that our survival is imperiled by the risk of nuclear 
war.  The familiar challenges identified in that Manifesto and 
the 1982 Warsaw Declaration of Nobel Laureates remain as 
important as ever.  But in the spirit of the Russell-Einstein 
Manifesto, we now call on all scientists to expand our concerns 
to a broader set of interrelated dangers: destruction of the 
environment on a global scale and denial of basic needs for a 
growing majority of humankind.  Without reducing our commitment 
to arms reduction and war prevention, we must recognize that 
environmental degradation and large-scale impoverishment are 
already facts and can lead to massive catastrophe even if 
nuclear war is avoided.

     The present inequitable international economic order 
confines many countries to the crushing cycle of poverty and 
induces them to use environmentally destructive industrial and 
agricultural practices.  When coupled with world-wide population 
growth, and excessive production and profligate consumerism in 
the industrial nations, this is pushing the planet toward disaster.

     Today's pattern of increasing energy use is a key link in a 
dangerous web of international environmental problems.  Among 
these are global climate change, ozone depletion, acid deposition, 
and water pollution.  These, combined with other potentially 
catastrophic effects including deforestation, soil erosion, 
and mass extinction of species, reduce the earth's ability to 
support a growing population.  The combined effect diminishes 
ecosystem functions in ways that will damage economies in the 
North and fatally undermine economies in the South.  

     These linked environmental problems affect all nations.  
They exacerbate international tensions and increase the risk 
of future conflicts through the impacts of sea-level rises, 
forced migrations, and persistent crop failures.

     To survive, we must  recognize that environmental 
degradation weakens the security of all.  The challenge is to 
find ways to promote sustainable development of all regions of 
the world while reducing both military and ecological threats.  
Cooperation among nations, and effective organizations at the 
international, national, regional, and local levels, are 
essential to maintain earth's life-support systems.  Intense 
efforts must be made to foster a feeling of connectedness and 
cooperation and to correct economic injustices and promote trust.

     The steps taken up to the present to halt environmental 
destruction have proved inadequate.  Much stronger measures 
are required now. These include the development of alternative 
high-yield agricultural methods, while recognizing the value 
of some traditional practices, in order to conserve scarce 
water and topsoil.  They will also entail strict regulation 
of industry and land use, and massive investment in environment-
ally sound practices, increased efficiency of resource use, 
deployment of renewable energy technologies, poverty reduction, 
and population planning. Education must promote a shift toward 
lifestyles compatible with the preservation of our life-support 
systems.  Global use of fossil fuels must be reduced.  The 
1987 Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depletion must be strengthened 
to eliminate the production and use of chlorofluoro-carbons.  
International support for reforestation must be increased 
dramatically.  In this way, the planet may move toward a 
new and stable balance in which nature can withstand the 
impacts of human civilization.



Pugwash Council

Chairman:  John P. Holdren, 
	       United States*
Angel T. Balevski, Bulgaria
Dnes Bernyi, Hungary
Francesco Calogero, Italy*
Ubiratan D'Ambrosio, Brazil
Hans-Peter Drr, Germany
Bernard T. Feld, United States*
Shalheveth Freier, Israel
Essam E. Galal, Egypt*
Virginia Gamba, Argentina
Vitalii I. Goldanskii, Soviet Union*
Lameck K.H. Goma, Zambia
Anatoly Gromyko, Soviet Union
Andrew Haines, United Kingdom
Sergei Kapitza, Soviet Union
Martin M. Kaplan, Switzerland*
Catherine M. Kelleher, United States
Karlheinz Lohs, Germany
Peter Markl, Austria
Maciej Nalecz, Poland*
Samuel El. Okoye, Nigeria
Joseph Rotblat, United Kingdom*
Jack Ruina, United States
Philip B. Smith, Netherlands
Bhalchandra M. Udgaonkar, India*
Zhou Peiyuan, China

*Pugwash Executive Committee