Timeline for Sustainable Development of Climate by Olivia Fujinaka

United Nations is created

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Paris agreement at UN finalized

osf2801_1 — 2025-05-02 19:21:10 UTC

December 12, 2015

2030 Agenda

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The United Nations created an agenda for sustainable development, named the 2030 agenda. It was an international treaty that aimed to limit global warming. The United States withdrew from the agreement in November of 2020.

Climate Action Summit

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UNDP

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UNDP, or United Nations Development Programme, was formed to help countries suffering from poverty and achieve sustainable human development, ensuring the improvement of life for all citizens while also converting environment and natural resources.n

UNEP

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United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was created in 1972 to provide leadership and encourage individuals to take attention to the environment. Their core mission is to find solutions to the triple planetary crisis— biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution.

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

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In June 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) convened in Rio de Janeiro. Participants of the summit included 108 heads of state and representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), intergovernmental organizations (to include international financial institutions), businesses, academia, and the media. The conference was the first summit of its kind since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which asserted that a relationship existed between economic development and environmental degradation. The summit convened with the stated objective to stabilize greenhouse emissions in a time frame that is sensitive to natural climate changes, continued food production, and sustainable economic development.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by over 150 countries at the summit in 1992.

UNEA

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United Nations Environment Assembly has the most power in our world making decisions for our environmental matters. This is when members of the UN states gather to set goals and values for global environment policies and international environmental law.

UNFCCC’s Action

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The UNFCCC had began to take action in March 21st, 1994, and involves 198 countries today. There was less recognized scientific evidence in 1994, but borrowed from the Montreal Protocol of 1987 which bound the involved states to “act in the interests of human safety even in the face of scientific uncertainty.”

UNCTAD

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Established in 1964 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has been the center of the United Nations' programs on trade and development.

The Kyoto Protocol

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The Kyoto Protocol was finalized on December 11th, 1997, and began action on February 16, 2005. There are 192 countries that are still involved today, and operationalizes the UNFCCC by committing the involved countries to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, “in accordance with agreed individual targets.” The KP is mainly based on the UNFCCC’s annex-like structure, and only binds developed countries as they are more responsible for the high levels of greenhouse gas emissions today. In the European Union, it targets 37 industrialized countries/economies. These add up to an average of 5% emission reduction compared to the five-year period from 2008-2012.

Stockholm Conference

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This was the first major UN conference that focused solely on environmental issues, laying the foundation for the global environmental governance we have today. There, they established the Stockholm Declaration, containing 26 principles addressing that it is a shared global responsibility to maintain and manage the given resources sustainably.

Biosphere Conference

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The first international conference focusing on the issues regarding the biosphere and conservation possibilities. Issues covered: 1) Human impact on the biosphere (urbanization, deforestation) 2) Population-resource relationship strain. 3) science-based paths for better environmental management. *non-exhaustive list

MAB Programme

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MAB, or Man and the Biosphere is a direct result from the Biosphere Conference. Their goal is to establish scientific based improvements of relationship between people and their environments.

UNFSS

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UN Food Systems Summit was established on September 23, 2021 with the goal to transform global food systems towards the SDGs by 2030.

Industrial Revolution

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With the Industrial Revolution establishing, there was a massive overexploitation of natural resources— oil and coal were used for factories and industries. Burning coal and steam engines polluted the air. Agricultural practices increased dramatically to balance the growing population, which led to deforestation. The economics were thriving, but the environment was slowly degrading.

UN Habitat Settlements Programme

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Addressing rapid urbanization and its impact on human settlements.

MDG

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Member States unanimously adopted the Millennium Declaration at the Millennium Summit in September 2000 at UN Headquarters in New York. The Summit led to the elaboration of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce extreme poverty by 2015.

Johannesburg Declaration

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The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Implementation, adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa in 2002, reaffirmed the global community's commitments to poverty eradication and the environment, and built on Agenda 21 and the Millennium Declaration by including more emphasis on multilateral partnerships.

The United States withdrawal from the Paris agreement.

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The United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was on November 4th, 2020. The president of 2020 that oversaw this withdrawal, Donald J. Trump, had terminated participation of the PAris Agreement because it was an “unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off”, “China pollutes with impunity.” Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement was a significant setback for international climate change combat.

mys2801_2 — 2025-05-07 01:47:07 UTC