The paper starts off with an outline of Austria’s national interest in the environmental field and its position in international negotiations in the seventies and eighties. It then deals in more detail with its Austria’s position in the UNCED preparatory process, arguing that it belonged to the front runner during the negotiations. Finally giving an outlook on the UNCED follow-up-process the author argues that the Rio Conference marks but the beginning of a highly necessary new type of Cooperation at the global scene.
