Environmental Modification Convention

Environmental Modification (ENMOD) Convention

Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques
Participation in the Environmental Modification Convention   Signed and ratified   Acceded or succeeded   Only signed
Drafted	10 December 1976
Signed	18 May 1977
Location	Geneva, Switzerland
Effective	5 October 1978
Condition	Ratification by 20 states
Signatories	48
Parties	76 (Complete List)
Depositary	Secretary-General of the United Nations
Languages	English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish
Full text
Environmental Modification Convention at Wikisource

The Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD), formally the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques is an international treaty prohibiting the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects. It opened for signature on 18 May 1977 in Geneva and entered into force on 5 October 1978.

The Convention bans weather warfare, which is the use of weather modification techniques for the purposes of inducing damage or destruction. The Convention on Biological Diversity of 2010 would also ban some forms of weather modification or geoengineering.

Many states do not regard this as an complete ban on the use of herbicides in warfare, such as Agent Orange, but it does require case-by-case consideration.

Parties

Main article: List of parties to the Environmental Modification Convention

As of January 2012, the convention was ratified by 76 countries

See also

• Arms control agreements
• Environmental agreements
• Geoengineering
• Operation Popeye

External links

• The text of the agreement compiled by the NGO Committee on Education
• Ratifications
• A Political Primer on the ENMOD Convention from the Sunshine Project.