40th birthday for the greens

In June 1972 heads of state gather in Stockholm. Alongside them work and guide a group of scientists, researchers and public figures who are aware of the trouble humanity is leading the natural environment into. The discussions become the first environmental summit meeting 

Summer 1972. After the student riots in Paris, after the "Summer of Love" in the USA and while the Cold War was in full swing, the blue whale blue whale, hunted almost to extinction.
Experiments with atomic bombs Atom bomb tests continue to "enrich" the world with strontium 90. Poisons from Europe, Japan Minamata disaster  and North America harm plants, animals and people. From the economic point of view (short-term) the world is doing well, but there are those who notice that the environment pays the price and nature pays compound interest.

"Club of RomeThe Club of Rome published the prediction that "the explosion of the human population will reach the capacity of the earth to satisfy the needs of life".
In June 1972 heads of state gather in Stockholm (not everyone understood the importance of the gathering). Alongside them work and guide a group of scientists, researchers and public figures who are aware of the trouble humanity is leading the natural environment into. The discussions become the first environmental summit meeting that leads to the establishment of: United Nations Conference on the Human Environment  The first international body to deal with environmental problems.

Outside the discussion hall, two groups gather who see their role as ensuring that the discussions continue in the right direction. One small group consists of scientists who are concerned about population explosion, pollution and the increasing use of natural resources. The second and largest group was made up of citizens who are concerned about the state of society and engage in volunteering for social and environmental issues, the grouping is characterized by demonstrations, songs, and public debates on every issue - from air pollution to vegetarianism, these also accompany the initial gathering.

One of the factors or impulses for the gathering was the story of Rachel Carson Silent Spring, published in 1970, described the natural environment dying as a result of human activity. The book illustrated how the spread of toxins kills not only wild animals and plants but also people, the book illustrated the inextricable connection between the human population and the natural environment, the mass poisoning events that occurred in different parts of the world received a global environmental context.
Deaths of animals, birds, fish, butterflies and reptiles are linked to human activity, although Carson referred "only" to the use of chemicals in the US, it was clear that the disaster is happening all over the world.

The survivors of the environmental disasters from Japan appeared before those gathered in Stockholm Minamata disaster
and from Vietnam agent Orange. The "yellow agent" continued and continues to harm the residents and the US is paying reparations. The appearance of the survivors did much to convince the participants of the lurking danger.

Although the organizers of the conference and the Swedish government welcomed the appearance of delegations of survivors and victims, not all participants understood or knew how to treat the phenomenon. The Indian representative (Indira Gandhi) stated, defined and sharpened the problem by saying that "in my opinion people who harm nature harm humanity" "modern man must renew and strengthen the link that connects nature and life".

Representatives of developing countries led by China raised a series of issues that almost caused the conference to be closed before it opened, the main argument being that "concern for the environment is for the rich, a concern that will divert attention and economic inputs from the real problems such as the war on poverty and development".

International frictions also arose, with the most notable being the non-participation of the USSR, or the reference by the Prime Minister of Sweden to the activities of the USA in Vietnam as ("eco-side") destroying the environment. The response of the US representatives was to attack the whaling carried out by the Swedes, after most countries stopped hunting, only Japan, the USSR and Scandinavia remained. Although the whaling did not come up as one of the main issues, a resolution was passed calling for an end to the commercial hunting of whales. A decision whose motives were more political than environmental. The final ban on whaling was announced about ten years later, after the fact it turns out that this was an important and significant decision at the conference.

The most important and practical result of the conference was the establishment of "The environmental protection program” United Nations Environment Program. But more significant in the long term was the new approach expressed in the closing statement  according to which "nations must cooperate in environmental matters to bring about a healthy environment since a healthy environment is essential for the healthy development of countries". For the first time, governments recognize the fact that technology that is not properly controlled harms the environment. As a result of this understanding, representatives agree that "every country has the duty to prevent pollution and that endangered species need international protection".
There were those who claimed that instead of agreeing on the "monitoring of pollutants" the representatives should have discussed the development of industries that would not pollute (over the years the "claims" became integrated and the development of clean industries was a natural continuation of monitoring pollutants).

At the time of the conference, there was no environment minister in any of the countries. Immediately after the conference, governments began to entrust the issue of the environment to ministers, meaning that the conference placed the issue of the environment on the political agenda.

As a result of the conference and the engagement on the issue of the environment was established Brundtland Committee Brundtland Commission which determined and defined a sustainable society as a society that "satisfies the needs of the present without jeopardizing and compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their needs".

The Stockholm conference led to the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 Earth Summit A summit that gave birth to the UN Convention on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Deserts and 21 Agenda "Road map"
The plan for sustainable development refers to pollutant emissions and the just distribution of resources and as such is considered the most extreme.

Governments have done a lot since the conference in Stockholm, a lot but too little, but still billions of people live in poverty and hunger and the damage to nature continues and increases. The next important step will be in Rio (next month) UN Conference on Sustainable Development, nicknamed Rio+20  About 130 world leaders, economic and media tycoons as well as about 70,000 activists will gather and demand immediate, significant action and on a wider scale than has been the case so far. Israel will be represented by a delegation led by the Minister of Environmental Protection and members of the Knesset, who will be joined by green activists from various movements.

Twenty years ago at the Rio conference where world leaders "swore" to protect the global climate and biological diversity, it was clear that the task was not easy, but only a few guessed how much worse the situation would become. In 1992, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was less than 360 parts per million. Today the concentration approaches 400 parts per million and continues to rise. At the same time biological species are becoming extinct and disappearing at an increasing rate, the water problem is getting worse and weather hazards are multiplying and intensifying.
Leaving the solutions in the hands of international bodies such as: Convention on Biological Diversity
or The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC(
Showing tiny successes to serious failure, it is possible that (private) economic bodies must join and take a significant part in "saving the world", it is clear that for this they must understand the need for sustainable development.
Ahead of the conference in Rio, studies and forecasts are being published and everyone is warning that the natural environment is on the brink of the point of no return, a point beyond which humanity will not be able to correct the situation and the natural environment will be drawn into a process of extinction similar to the mass extinctions that occurred in the geological past of our planet.
There are those who believe that the world is in danger because humanity will not do and will not fulfill what is necessary for survival and the existence of the environment, but as long as there are hopeful people it is appropriate to continue to act.
It has already been said that the time has come to control the human population for the sake of the environment.