Stockholm summit marks 50 years of UN environment work

• World leaders meet in Stockholm to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
• UN Environment Programme (UNEP) arose from the original Stockholm conference in 1972.
• The meeting takes place amid a triple planetary crisis of climate change

Stockholm, Global leaders are honoring the 50th anniversary of the United Nations’ first environment conference this week, as the world faces worsening climate disasters and a war in Ukraine that threatens to overshadow efforts to slow global warming.

According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which arose from the original Stockholm conference in 1972, the anniversary meeting in Stockholm will take place “amid the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.”

Decades of international diplomacy to halt humanity’s environmental destruction have yielded only halting results, with scientists warning that time is running out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid catastrophic warming.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will attend the two-day Stockholm meeting along with guests including United States special envoy for climate John Kerry, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risked slowing the momentum of the climate crisis.

“The sense of urgency in the debate on climate has of course suffered from the war in Ukraine,” he told reporters at a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Wednesday on the eve of the conference.

“But I think this war has demonstrated one thing: how fragile the world is in its dependence on fossil fuels,” he added.

Guterres said the conflict further raises concerns about the ability of the international community to pull together to tackle the planet-wide effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.

“We need everyone to gather under the tent. “We must avoid fragmentation,” said UNEP Director Inger Andersen in a statement, urging “bold actions.” “during the meeting

The conference’s main themes will be action to reduce emissions, recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and how to accelerate environmental protection into development policy.

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