News Highlights
The initial step of environmental concern that took place at the Stockholm summit marks 50 years.
Stockholm Summit
- Background of Summit
- Before the 1972 summit, 2,200 scientists signed a letter to then-UN Secretary General U Thant, as well as their “three and a half billion neighbours on planet Earth,” warning of the “unprecedented common threat” that humanity was facing.
- The scientists warned that the globe was on the verge of several calamities, and they called for “extensive research into the challenges that threaten humanity’s survival.”
- Thant’s statement emphasized the earth’s “delicate balance of physical and biological processes.”
- About the Summit
- Stockholm Summit held in 1972 which is also called the UN Conference on Human Environment.
- Why was the summit held in the past ? – To deal with extreme weather events, oil spills, countries struggling with water and crop contamination.
Significance of Stockholm Summit
- The summit marked the first global effort to treat the environment as a worldwide policy issue and define the core principles for its management.
- Participating countries adopted 26 principles, including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment.
- The principles called for asserting human rights, safeguarding natural resources and wildlife, maintaining Earth’s capacity to produce renewable resources, and assistance to developing countries.
- The conference also put global inequality in the spotlight, when India questioned the prioritization of environmental protection in the face of extreme poverty — a view shared by developing nations.
Outcome of Summit
- Emerged the idea of sustainable development
- UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was formed
- Headquarter – Nairobi, Kenya
- Facilitated to formation of Montreal Protocol in 1987 to phase out ozone-depleting substances, and co-founded the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- It acts as a base for all other environment landmark outcomes that include the Rio summit , Paris agreement etc.
Stockholm +50
- Theme – Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity
- Hosted by Sweden with support of Government of Kenya
- It will mark 50 years since the 1972 Stockholm Summit.
- The event will provide leaders with an opportunity to draw on 50 years of multilateral environmental action to achieve the bold and urgent action needed to secure a better future on a healthy planet.
Significance of Stockholm +50
- The event will boost commitments like
- UN Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Paris Agreement on climate change
- The post-2020 global Biodiversity Framework
Principles of Engagement
- Intergenerational responsibility
- Interconnectivity
- Implementing opportunity
Expectations
- Rebuild relationships of trust
- Accelerate system wide actions for a sustainable and inclusive recovery
- Connect and build bridges across agendas
- Rethink conceptions and measures of progress and wellbeing
Pic Courtesy : Hindustan Times
Content Source : Hindustan Times