treaties

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is signed in Montreal, Canada.

The World Summit for Sustainable Development (Rio+10) takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Kyoto Protocol is an addition to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that stipulates a reduction of greenhouse gases.

The 1989 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES) bans the international trade of African elephant ivory.

The UN Conference for Environment and Development (UNED), known as the first “Earth Summit,” takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The discovery of the Kimberley diamond field in South Africa has fueled exploitation and conflict.

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment becomes the first UN conference focused solely on the global environment.

The Antarctic Treaty is the first international conservation treaty after the end of the Second World War.

Scientists at Columbia University find that, as a result of nuclear testing, the radioactive isotope Strontium 90 could likely be detected in every human on earth.

The treaty prohibits nuclear weapons tests or other nuclear explosions under water, in the atmosphere, or in outer space, but still permits underground nuclear tests.