: The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (also known as the Stockholm Conference) was an international conference convened under United Nations auspices held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 5-16, 1972. It was the UN’s first major conference on international environmental issues, and marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics.
It modified the classical approach from being just informative to guiding and motivating the global community in being responsible towards the environment. It resulted into two things:
26 Principles– It gave 26 principles concerning the environment and development. These included human rights, natural resources, wildlife and environment education to name a few. It resulted in the rise of regional environmental clubs like Club of Rome which gave the concept of “Limit to Growth” and Sierra Club which gave the concept of “Blind Pace of Development”. The Stockholm Declaration also resulted in two global initiatives- Belgrade Charter(1975); Tbilisi declaration (1977)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)– It is an international programme of the UN that-
coordinates United Nations’ environmental activities, monitors world environment ( Earthwatch) ,publishes periodic reports (GEO) assists developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It is Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.