The seminal “World Conservation Strategy” of 1980 argues for the protection of essential ecological processes and habitats, the preservation of genetic diversity, and the sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems.
In 1987 the UN’s World Commission for Environment and Development publishes the report “Our Common Future,” also known as the “Brundtland Report.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publishes its “Red List” of endangered animal and plant species.
The first international intergovernmental organization dedicated to environmental protection is established in 1972.
Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark’s expedition to search for a Northwest Passage to Asia. The expedition to the Pacific resulted in detailed environmental reports about the American West.
The outbreak of the Spanish Influenza kills more than twelve million people in India.
Former World Bank Chief Economist Nicholas Stern predicts the rapid growth of the costs of measures to combat climate change.
UN releases “Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium.”
At the Gothenburg Summit in 2001, the European Council agreed upon a sustainability strategy for the European Union.
The European Union adopts a model linking sustainability with ecological, economic, and social issues.
