The UN work on environmental issues started at the first environmental conference in 1972. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) was established the same year. Fifteen years later the report Our common future was published. It introduced the concept of sustainable development. In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established and four years later the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), in 1992. The same year, 1992, the UN “Earth Summit” produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a first step in addressing the climate change problem.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

According to the declaration from the United Nations first Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, "Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations."

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established by the General Assembly in 1972. The mission of UNEP is to coordinate the United Nations environmental activities.

The Brundtland report, Our common future

Brundtland Report, also known as Our Common future (A/48/427), was published in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). The report introduced the concept of sustainable development and described how it could be achieved. It is a landmark document integrating protection of the environment with peace, security and development launching the principle of Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD).

United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)

The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was established in 1992 to improve the UN activities in the field of environment and development. It was replaced in 2013 by the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Intergovernmental panel on climate change(IPCC)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established in 1988 by WMO and the UNEP. The purpose was to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic research related to climate change.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

In 1992, the UN “Earth Summit” produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a first step in addressing the climate change problem. Today, 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are Parties to the Convention.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP. The COP meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise: COP - Climate Change Conferences.

The ultimate aim of the Convention is to prevent “dangerous” human interference with the climate system.

Conferences on environment and sustainable development

The United Nations has organized major world conferences on the environment and sustainable development:

1. The United Nation Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm in 1972
2. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Nairobi in 1982
3. The United Nations on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992
4. Special Session ot the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 (Earth Summit +5), New York, 23-27 June 1997.
5. Millennium Summit, 6-8 September 2000, New York
6. The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002
7. The World Summit, 14-16 September 2005, New York
8. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro in 2012
9. Stockholm+50 : a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity, 2-3 juni 2022

More on environment and sustainable development

• InforMEA - United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements, COP decisions, news, meetings, membership, national focal points and reports from MEAs. Information is organised by terms from MEA COP agendas. InforMEA is a project of the MEA Information and Knowledge Management (IKM) Initiative with the support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Union.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Reports, decisions, press releases, protocolls and conventions inluding national status from different meetings and conferences.
• The UN Climate Action
• UN Documentation : environment by the UN library, New York.
• Research guide : climate change by the UN Library, Geneva.
• Klimatförhandlingar genom åren, Svenska FN-förbundet /UNA Sweden.