Lecture Changing perspectives on the environment

1972: The creation of the United Nation’s Environment Programme (UNEP), headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.

1979: The partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania raises concerns about the safety of nuclear energy. These concerns are exacerbated by the explosion of the Chernobyl reactor in the Soviet Union in 1986.

1987: The United Nations’ Brundtland Commission publishes “Our Common Future,” which defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

1992: The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development recognizes “the integral and independent nature of the Earth, our home,” and lists 27 principles of sustainable development including reducing global inequities, international cooperation, and the promotion of an economic system that addresses environmental problems.

1997: The Kyoto Protocol is negotiated, the first international treaty that commits ratifying nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Although rejected by the United States, the treaty was ratified by 191 nations and entered into force in 2005.

2002: The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development recognized that “humanity is at a crossroads” and there exists “a collective responsibility to advance and strengthen the . . . pillars of sustainable development— economic development, social development, and environmental protection.”

2009: Nations participating in climate change talks in Copenhagen agree that actions should be implemented to limit eventual global warming to no more than 2°C, though no binding commitments are made to reduce emissions.

2015: The Paris Agreement on climate change, approved by 195 countries, calls for a “global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible” with a goal of “holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.” Over 150 countries submit plans to limit their greenhouse gas emissions.

2021: The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 13 November 2021. representing almost 200 countries - agreeing the Glasgow Climate Pact. This global agreement will accelerate action on climate this decade, and finally completes the Paris Rulebook. Almost 200 countries submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) plans.