The Stockholm Conference UNCHE 1972

UNCHE, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, was the first international summit on the environment. It had been triggered by the 60's environmental movement, which took the world's rulers to bed a bit. It was up to them to take back the initiative. That it took place in Stockholm may have been due to the fact that Sweden at that time was considered a bit neutral between the Cold War blocs, and that Sweden was out early with environmental legislation.

At the same time, it was the first major international summit where popular movements mobilized to be present in a more advanced way than just demonstrations. After all, such were also arranged in Stockholm in 1972, but also advanced political discussions on such issues the countries' official delegates did not care about but which were nevertheless necessary to take into account if the environmental crisis could be halted.

Links:

UN official website for the Stockholm Conference

Wikipedia summary

Download the pdf The UN participatory rebellion - People’s Stockholm Summits ’72. Summary of this entire site in English.