Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
It consists of 26 principles and led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which laid the foundation for future global environmental governance.
The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment signifies the first international effort to place environmental issues at the forefront of global concerns.
[3] The Stockholm Declaration urged the signatory nations to reduce air, land, and water degradation by integrating science and technology in their development plans.
[5] The Soviet Union, the other members of the Eastern bloc, most Western European countries, and the United States all supported Sweden's proposal.
However, the United Kingdom and France were concerned that developing countries might use the conference to garner more financial support from formal colonial powers.
[7] This declaration can be traced to the Intergovernmental Conference of Experts on the Scientific Basis for Rational Use and Conservation of the Resources of the Biosphere, which was convened in Paris by UNESCO in September 1968.
In 1971, General Assembly Resolution 2581 created a 27-nation preparatory committee, whose goal was to produce a declaration concerning the "rights and obligations of citizens and Governments with regard to the preservation and improvement of the human environment" as outlined in a recommendation by the Secretary-General.
[7] The members of the Committee agreed that the Declaration should only list "broad goals and objectives", and the conference should adopt an in-depth action program outlined by supporting documents.
[4] After an all-night session and under the leadership of Taieb Slim, T. C. Bacon, Hans Blix, along with Strong and his associates, a final draft was formed on the last day of the Conference.
[7] A major topic at the Conference was institutional expansion, which came to reality with the creation of the United Nations Environmental Program by General Assembly Resolution 2997.
Principle 21, which outlines states' sovereign rights to exercise in their territories and their responsibilities to prevent transboundary harm, serves as the legal core to the document.
[14] As the first attempt to achieve global consensus, experts like Brenton consider the majority of the Declaration to be "useless for legal purposes" because of its vagueness.
In addition, while many legal treaties formed secretariats and organizations to oversee compliance and implementation, the UNEP failed to do so due to a lack of funding and enforcement mechanisms.
[14] The ongoing political and ideological rivalry between the US and USSR and their respective allies continued to overshadow the tension in the international environment during the Stockholm Conference in 1972.
[15] Sweden and other supporters of the conference hoped to use preparations for it to build bridges within a deeply fractured UN and viewed the Cold War from a position of political neutrality.
[4] Even though the Soviet Union and the United States had supported the proposal during discussions in the UN General Assembly, the Geneva-based secretariat preparing the meeting had to strike a delicate balance between east and west.
[4] Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi asserted that "poverty is the worst form of pollution", encompassing a discursive framework that pitted Northern environmentalism against Southern development commitment that remain a prominent theme for the next forty years.
Brazilian delegates also believed that the United Nations had placed too much emphasis on emerging issues such as the environment, oceans, and space, which distracted the UN from its central role in peacemaking and economic development, especially in the Global South.
These protests also set the norm for alternative environmental ideologies and countercultural beliefs that could co-exist with conventional models of development such as the Stockholm Conference.
In this respect, policies promoting or perpetuating apartheid, racial segregation, discrimination, colonial and other forms of oppression and foreign domination stand condemned and must be eliminated.
Principle 4 Man has a special responsibility to safeguard and wisely manage the heritage of wildlife and its habitat, which are now gravely imperilled by a combination of adverse factors.
Principle 8 Economic and social development is essential for ensuring a favorable living and working environment for man and for creating conditions on earth that are necessary for the improvement of the quality of life.
Principle 10 For the developing countries, stability of prices and adequate earnings for primary commodities and raw materials are essential to environmental management, since economic factors as well as ecological processes must be taken into account.
Principle 11 The environmental policies of all States should enhance and not adversely affect the present or future development potential of developing countries, nor should they hamper the attainment of better living conditions for all, and appropriate steps should be taken by States and international organizations with a view to reaching agreement on meeting the possible national and international economic consequences resulting from the application of environmental measures.
Principle 15 Planning must be applied to human settlements and urbanization with a view to avoiding adverse effects on the environment and obtaining maximum social, economic and environmental benefits for all.
Principle 19 Education in environmental matters, for the younger generation as well as adults, giving due consideration to the underprivileged, is essential in order to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises and communities in protecting and improving the environment in its full human dimension.
Principle 24 International matters concerning the protection and improvement of the environment should be handled in a cooperative spirit by all countries, big and small, on an equal footing.
