Chronology of Sustainable Development

1972 The term “sustainable development” is first used during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden.

1980 The interdependence of conservation and development is stressed in the publication World Conservation Strategy by the United Nations Environment Program, World Wide Fund for Nature, and IUCN-the World Conservation Union.

1987 The publication Our Common Future, published by the United Nation’s World Commission on Environment and Development, calls upon the world’s nations to adopt the objective of sustainable development as the overriding goal and test of national policy and international cooperation.

1992 The Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Participants develop Agenda 21, a program of action for sustainable development worldwide, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and a statement of principles for the sustainable management of forests which is adopted by more than 178 governments.

1992 The United nations General Assembly establishes the Commission on Sustainable Development, which meets for the first time in June 1993 in New York. It holds annual meetings in New York from this date on.

1997 Heads of state from 70 countries meet at the United Nations to assess progress since the Rio Summit and to discuss future plans.