Stockholm Conference 1972
Also called: UN Conference on the Human Environment · Topic: Natural Resources: Classification, Planning and Sustainable Use · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Stockholm Conference 1972, officially the UN Conference on the Human Environment, was the first big UN meeting on the environment. It met in Stockholm, Sweden, from 5 to 16 June 1972. It set up the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and made 5 June World Environment Day. It put the environment on the world's agenda for the first time.
Example
India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi spoke at Stockholm. She said poverty and need are the greatest polluters. She meant that poor countries cannot protect nature unless people's basic needs are met. This became India's lasting position at climate talks.
Don't confuse with
- Rio Earth Summit 1992: held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, twenty years later. It produced Agenda 21 and opened the UNFCCC and CBD for signature. Stockholm created UNEP.
Related concepts
- Gandhian view of resource conservation
- Small is Beautiful
- Brundtland Commission Report
- Sustainable development