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Stockholm Summit: On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm Conference, let us look at how far environmental diplomacy has reached in half a century.
Acid rain in the year 1972 (Acid Rain) were destroying trees, birds were being killed by DDT poisoning, many countries were grappling with the crisis caused by oil spills, testing of nuclear weapons and environmental damage caused by the Vietnam War. Air pollution at that time (Air Pollution) level was getting out of bounds. Then, at the insistence of Sweden, the United Nations (United Nations) tried to find a solution by uniting the representatives of countries around the world. Fifty years ago in 1972, at the United Nations Human Environment Conference held in Stockholm from June 5 to 16, for the first time, the environment was made a global policy issue and the basic principles for its management were defined.
The Stockholm conference proved to be a turning point in how the countries of the world think about resources such as nature and air. After this conference, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) was created to monitor the state of the environment and respond to the problems associated with it. On the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm Conference, let’s take a look at how environmental diplomacy has reached in half a century. In terms of diplomacy, the Stockholm Conference was a great achievement.
Contains principles driving global environmental management
It broke the limits of the United Nations system based on state sovereignty and underlined the importance of working together for the common good. Representatives of 113 countries and officials of UN agencies also participated in this conference and they also included non-governmental individuals and organizations as environmental advocates. In this a declaration was made which included principles to take forward global environmental management. The declaration states that states have a sovereign right to use their resources and will take responsibility for the activities carried out under their jurisdiction and control so as not to harm the environment by going beyond the limits of other states or national jurisdictions. Arrive.
Earth Summit held in Rio
Under this an action plan was prepared and UNEP was established as a global organization for the environment. Twenty years later, in 1992, the UN Environment and Development Conference or Earth Summit was organized in Rio de Janeiro. In this conference, the concept of sustainable development was presented, which meant developing such that keeping in mind the needs of the future, the needs of the present can be met. This helped in building political consensus at many levels.
First, climate change has made it clear that permanent changes in the system of the earth are possible due to human activities, so everyone has to take responsibility for it. Second, it was recognized that economic development, environmental protection and social development are interdependent. The third consensus was reached that all countries can continue sustainable development, but developed countries have more capacity to do so and their society puts more pressure on the environment. Over the past 50 years, increasing awareness of environmental challenges has led to the promotion of national environmental agencies and global environmental legislation.
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