INTRODUCTION What is the ENMOD Convention? The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) prohibits using the environment as a weapon in conflicts. Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1976 and opened for signature on 18 May 1977, ENMOD entered into force when Laos, the twentieth State Party, deposited its instrument of ratification on 5 October 1978. ENMOD was inspired by global opposition to the use of Agent Orange and other environmental modification technologies in the 1960s during the Vietnam War and also by fears - in the 1970s - that technology was rapidly reaching the point that deliberate catastrophic environmental changes could be triggered as a weapon for hostile use. To date, ENMOD has been ratified nearly seventy countries, including major powers such as Russia and the United States. Relatively few Southern states have ratified the treaty. Two Review Conferences have been held, in 1984 and 1992. In late 2000, the Sunshine Project began research on ENMOD as a possible "new" tool to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction, particularly biological and toxin agents. In May 2001, the Sunshine Project joined the Edmonds Institute, Third World Network, and the Transnational Institute to co-sponsored a small conference to assess ENMOD's viability as tool for a diverse group of non-governmental organizations to promote peace, protect the environment, and prevent the hostile use of biological and chemical technologies. The Project prepared a background paper on ENMOD for the Amsterdam meeting. Discussants at the meeting concluded that ENMOD's potential for civil society is significant and established a programme of research to fill knowledge gaps and to articulate the pieces to enable non-governmental organizations to conduct effective advocacy on ENMOD.

NEW ENMOD 1994 Donwload a short (2 page) 1994 US Air Force proposal to develop a theater-scale weather modification system using carbon black. Released under FOIA from the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. Download a PDF of a US Navy proposal to develop new weather modification weapons. This proposal is from April, 1994 and was submitted to the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. PUBLICATIONS A Political Primer on the ENMOD Convention February 2002 This primer provides diplomatic and political history on ENMOD, discussing: - Initial treaty proposals; - Negotiations by the Commission on Disarmament; - Adoption by the General Assembly; - the 1st and 2nd Review Conferences, and; - US Senate materials related to ratification and 1960/70s military programs in Southeast Asia. The primer includes electronic copies (PDF) of important and difficult-to-find UN and US government documents related to the treaty. If you are unfamiliar with ENMOD, it is a good idea to first review the paper below, which provides a more general introduction to environmental warfare and the treaty: Post-Cold War Conflict and the Environment The ENMOD Convention and Related Agreements on Hostile Modification of the Environment. An April 2001 Occasional Paper of the Edmonds Institute. ENMOD Text Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques  (also available in Spanish) List of Parties ENMOD Parties (and Signatories) (Source: UN)