The Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment

1972 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayland Kennet
Keyword(s):  
Human Environment ◽  
Stockholm Conference

Looking Through Palme’s Vision for the Global Environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Anna Sundström
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Global Response ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
International Action ◽  
Stockholm Conference

Olof Palme, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, underlined the importance of a firm global response to the growing environmental crisis in his 06 June 1972 address to the first UN Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) held in Stockholm. He prophetically observed: “it is absolutely necessary that concerted, international action is undertaken . . . solutions will require far-reaching changes in attitudes and social structures”. Almost 50 years later, it is painfully clear that the necessary changes have not taken place and that time is now even more limited to make the necessary, far-reaching changes. How can the conclusions from the Stockholm Conference and ideas envisioned by Olof Palme can guide us into a better common greener future?

Looking Through Palme’s Vision for the Global Environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Sundström
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Global Response ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
International Action ◽  
Stockholm Conference

Olof Palme, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, underlined the importance of a firm global response to the growing environmental crisis in his 06 June 1972 address to the first UN Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) held in Stockholm. He prophetically observed: “it is absolutely necessary that concerted, international action is undertaken … solutions will require far-reaching changes in attitudes and social structures”. Almost 50 years later, it is painfully clear that the necessary changes have not taken place and that time is now even more limited to make the necessary, far-reaching changes. How can the conclusions from the Stockholm Conference and ideas envisioned by Olof Palme can guide us into a better common greener future?

The development of international environmental law

1977 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Birnie
Keyword(s):  
International Society ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
First Principle ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Stockholm Conference

The first principle adopted by the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 (hereafter referred to as UNCHE) proclaimed that “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of quality which permits a life of dignity and well-being and bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations”.If international society sets as its objective the protection, preservation and even the enhancement of the existing global environment then the development of laws and standards ensuring the acceptance of the necessary obligations and their enforcement is the sine qua non of their achievement.

The Evolution of International Environmental Law

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Sand
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Environmental Regimes ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Stockholm Conference ◽  
Modern Era

Close interaction with national laws and policies has been the major driving force for innovation in international environmental law to the point where economists have noted with some perplexity the ‘non-ergodic world’ of environmental regimes, which is subject not only to unforeseeable natural and technological changes, but also teeming with regulatory approaches that are new, often divergent, and competing. Most descriptions of the historical evolution of international environmental law distinguish three or four major ‘periods’ or ‘phases’: the ‘traditional era’ until about 1970 (preceding the 1972 United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment), which is sometimes sub-divided into a pre-1945 and a post-1945 period; the ‘modern era’ from Stockholm to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro; and the ‘post-modern era’ after Rio. This article discusses developments in treaties during the modern era, along with developments in dispute settlement and national law, and the development of international environmental law as a discipline.

The Emerging Practice of Global Environmental Law

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tseming Yang
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
General Counsel ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Stockholm Conference ◽  
National Environmental

AbstractSince the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, ecological pressures on our planet have grown more acute. Yet, modern environmental law has also continued to evolve and spread within international as well as among national legal systems. With the paths of international and national environmental law becoming increasingly intertwined over the years, international environmental legal norms and principles are now penetrating deeper into national legal systems, and environmental treaties are increasingly incorporating or referencing national legal norms and practices. The shifting legal landscape is also changing contemporary environmental law practice, creating greater needs for domestic environmental lawyers to be informed by international law and vice versa. This essay describes how domestic environmental law practice is increasingly informed by international legal norms, while the effective practice of international environmental law more and more requires enhanced awareness, and even understanding, of national environmental regulatory and governance systems. It illustrates these trends with the historical role and work of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of General Counsel.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the Stockholm Conference: A case of institutional non-adaptation

1975 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 771-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Brenner
Keyword(s):  
Policy Formation ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Institutional Response ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Stockholm Conference ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

This article considers how an established international organization with responsibility for programs of pure and applied science adapts its organizational format and purposes to newly defined tasks. It examines the institutional response of IOC (the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) to the specification of new obligations in the environmental field as stipulated by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, and as developed by the Environmental Program that the Conference established. Its main theme is the place of specialized knowledge, and the role of experts at the various stages of policy formation, within national governments and international forums. In analyzing the adaptation of IOC through expert and non-expert activities, our aim is to determine whether new programs and initiatives are fiUed to the existing framework, or produce new structures and institutional arrangements.

scholarly journals La contribution du Canada au développement du droit international pour la protection du milieu marin : Le cas spécial de l’Arctique

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-466
Author(s):  
Donat Pharand
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Marine Pollution ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Prevention Act ◽  
Arctic Pollution ◽  
Droit International ◽  
Stockholm Conference

Immediately after the adoption of its Arctic Pollution Prevention Act in 1970, Canada embarked on intense diplomatic efforts in a number of international for a to obtain recognition of international law principles which would serve as a basis for its legislation. These efforts were pursued mainly in three international conferences : the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment of 1972, the London Conference of the International Maritime Consultative Organization on the prevention of pollution by ships in 1973 and the United Nations Third Law of the Sea Conference which began in 1974 at Caracas. At the 1975 session of that Conference, held in Geneva, a form of Artic clause was inserted in the first Negotiating Text and it provided that coastal States could adopt special protective measures in special areas within their exclusive economic zone, where exceptional hazards to navigation prevailed and marine pollution could cause irreversible disturbance of the ecological balance. In 1976, the provision was enlarged to enable coastal States themselves to enforce such protectives measures, instead of leaving the enforcement to the flag State, and the provision has been kept without change in all the subsequent negotiating texts of 1977, 1979 and 1980. Considering the wide consensus which this provision has received, particularly on the part of other Arctic States, it may now be regarded as part of customary international law and completely validates Canada's arctic legislation.

scholarly journals ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND INCLUSIONS: Inaugural Editorial

2021 ◽  
Vol 001 (001) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Kamrul Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Life Support ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Environmental Harm ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Natural Processes ◽  
Proactive Measures ◽  
Stockholm Conference ◽  
Political Economic

The environmental agenda encompasses a relatively large number of issues having multiple actors involved in and around them. Environmental problems are diverse and complex, both in local as well as in international settings. The complexity of environmental problems often involves exploring various solution approaches. The regulatory process is one of them; and the policy process complements regulatory developments. They guide human behaviour. Given that human interactions with nature and ecological processes are central to environmental problems, law and policy regulations suggest changing human behaviour in order to be in harmony with nature and to better cope with natural processes. Coping with natural processes does not mean seeking the adoption of preventive measures only. Rather, positive and proactive measures are necessary to recover from environmental harm, as we have already caused significant damage to our environment. We must recover from the injury caused to our planet in order for it to exist in its unique condition and to continue with life support systems that are sustainable. Law and policies are some of the tools we employ to recover from the damages caused to our environment. Since the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, the environmental agenda has predominantly captured our attention on all decision-shaping and decision-making levels, including political, economic, scientific, and cultural spheres both in academic and non-academic contexts. The actors' joint efforts have provided us with a mutual understanding of environmental problems, a set of agreed-upon norms and principles, and procedural practices to respond to such problems.

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