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History - A Brief Timeline of Sustainability kennuncorked.com Linking Wine with a Sustainable Lifestyle "Il y a une civilisation du vin, celle où les hommes veulent se connaître afin de ne pas se combattre." |
1962 - Rachel Carson publishes "Silent Spring"
1964 - 1974 - The International Biological Program
As a result of these discussions, ICSU at its Ninth General Assembly in 1961 established a Planning Committee on the proposed International Biological Program, with Montalenti as chairman. The committee recommended that the IBP focus on the effect on biological communities of changes in the natural environment, and on the conservation and growth of natural resources for human benefit. Accordingly, during a General Assembly held in Paris on 23-25 July 1964 and attended by some 150 participants from scientific academies worldwide, ICSU established a Special Committee for the IBP (SCIBP), which was charged with directing the program. The IBP's research structure was established at the Paris meeting as well. Seven program areas, each represented by a SCIBP subcommittee, were identified as providing the focus of the IBP’s scientific activity. These seven were:
1966 - International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the UN. Preamble The States Parties to the present Covenant, Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person, Recognizing that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social and cultural rights, as well as his civil and political rights, Considering the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms, Realizing that the individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community to which he belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of the rights recognized in the present Covenant, Agree upon the following articles: Read entire document or visit Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (Return to Top)
1968 - Paul Ehrlich publishes book "Population Bomb"
Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University and president of its Center for Conservation Biology, has become a leading authority on population biology and one of the country's most influential ecologists. Long an advocate of population control and ecological awareness, Ehrlich's many books and articles offer readers a guide to the environment, information on crucial environmental issues, and suggestions for immediate action, both at a governmental level and at a personal, individual level. He provides suggestions for changes that will sustain the life of the planet. Humans must become more conscious of the environment, he is convinced, and must learn to consider the long-term environmental threats posed by the problems that already exist. (Return to Top)
1968 - The Club of Rome - "The Limits to Growth"
It commissions a study of global proportions to model and analyze the dynamic interactions between industrial production, population, environmental damage, food consumption and natural resource usage (later published as "The Limits to Growth"). The international effects of this publication in the fields of politics, economics and science are best described as a 'Big Bang': over night, the Club of Rome had demonstrated the contradiction of unlimited and unrestrained growth in material consumption in a world of clearly finite resources and had brought the issue to the top of the global agenda. With its focus on long-term vision and provocative scenarios, the report sold more than 12 million copies in some 30 languages worldwide. At the beginning of the 21st Century, international problems such as rising global inequality, the consequences of climate change and the overuse of natural resources have proved that the Club of Rome's fundamental views are broadly correct and have revived interest in its activities: unlimited consumption and growth on a planet with limited resources cannot go on forever and is indeed dangerous. (Return to Top)
1968 - The Intergovernmental Conference for Rational Use and Conservation of Biosphere
The Intergovernmental Conference of experts on the scientific basis for rational use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere, held in Paris in 1968, recommended the establishment of an intergovernmental programme of interdisciplinary research, which was approved by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1971 as the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme. One of MAB’s particular achievements has been the concept and practice of Biosphere Reserves as a unique type of protected area in which the preservation of biological diversity, ecosystems and landscapes is reconciled with development for the benefit of the local population, whose full participation is sought in the management of the Reserves. The Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) is an intergovernmental program that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, even before the convening in June 1972 of the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, which focused attention on global environmental problems. (Return to Top)
1968 - United Nations authorizes Human Environment Conference
The 1972 UNCHE, held in Sweden, was the first major global environmental conference. Sponsored by the UN, it convened 113 countries to discuss contemporary environmental issues. UNCHE adopted the Stockholm Declaration, establishing twenty-six principles of behavior and responsibility to serve as the basis for future legally binding multilateral accords; and the Action Plan for the Human Environment that specified 109 recommendations in the areas of environmental assessment, environmental management, and supporting institutional measures. Implementation was intended for governments and international organizations (Return to Top)
1969 - US Congress passes National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
This statute recast the government's role: formerly the conservator of wilderness, it now became the protector of earth, air, land, and water. The law declared Congressional intent to "create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony," and to "assure for all Americans safe, healthful, productive, esthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings." Henceforth, all federal agencies planning projects bearing on the environment were compelled to submit reports accounting for the likely consequences--the now famous Environmental Impact Statements (EISs). Secondly, NEPA directed the President to assemble in his Cabinet a Council on Environmental Quality. Undersecretary of the Interior Russell E. Train agreed to be its first chairman. The Council's three members and staff would assist the President by preparing an annual Environmental Quality Report to Congress, gathering data, and advising on policy. Signing the Act with fanfare on New Year’s Day 1970, Nixon observed that he had "become further convinced that the 1970s absolutely must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment. It is," he said, "literally now or never." President Nixon decided to establish an autonomous regulatory body (An Agency For The Environment) to oversee the enforcement of environmental policy. In a message to the House and Senate, he declared his intention to establish the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Return to Top)
On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day saw 20 million demonstrators participating in thousands of communities, schools, and colleges across the country. It was the largest one-day public demonstration in the history of the United States. New York Mayor John Lindsay banned cars from Fifth Avenue, and 100,000 of the city’s new pedestrians learned about the environment at an "eco-fair" in Union Square. In Florida, college students put a Chevrolet on trail pollution and sentenced it to death by sledgehammer. Newsweek magazine described the day as a "springtime skiplong" in which "waves of hippies and students frisked" under "the odd new banner of ecology." According to newspaper reports, the day's events involved 20 million people, 2,000 campuses, 2,000 community groups, and 10,000 primary and secondary schools. Even Congress adjourned for the day to allow its members to attend teachins in their home states. (Return to Top)
1972 - Rene Dubos and Barbara Ward write "Only One Earth"
This book examines our environmental problems from a global perspective. The problems are cast into their social, economic and political dimensions. Population, misuse of resources, the impact of technology, unbalanced development, and the world-wide dilemma of urbanization are explored. The authors have sought to report what is known and not known about the human environment. They point up the differences in values among individuals and nations which account for sharp disagreements as to present dangers and the means to a more harmonious balance between the natural and man-made environments. The book was prepared on commission for the United Nations, and provided a conceptual basis for the United Nations Conference on Human Environment, 1972, held in Stockholm. (Abstract retrieved July 19, 2009 from ERIC website document ED091170). (Return to Top)
1972 - Establishment of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Nevertheless, it provides the first international recognition of environmental issues. The concept of sustainable development is cohesively argued to present a satisfactory resolution to the environmental versus development dilemma. The conference leads to the establishment of numerous national environmental protection agencies and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (Return to Top)
1972 - The Club of Rome publishes "Limits to Growth"
The report is extremely controversial because it predicts dire consequences if there is not a slowdown of "growth" (throughput of raw materials from nature). Northern countries criticize the report for not giving enough weight to technological solutions while Southern countries are incensed because it appears to advocate abandonment of economic development. The ensuing debate nevertheless heightens awareness of the interconnections between several well-known global problems. The authors make use of the notion that the stability of ecological and economic could be "sustainable far into the future". (Return to Top)
1972 - Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil crisis
During the peak of the oil boom in the 1970s Sheik Ahmad Zaki Yamani, secretary-general of OPEC from 1968 to 1969, served as the Saudi Arabian minister of petroleum. During the 1973 Arab-Israeli War King Faisal in Saudi Arabia was persuaded to use oil as a weapon, and cuts in supplies to those nations supporting Israel were announced. However, Faysal was a staunch anticommunist, and, when the United States and Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat argued that the oil boycott could increase the threat of communism in the Arab and Muslim world, King Faysal effectively ended the boycott by withdrawing Saudi support in 1974. (Return to Top)
1974 - Use of CFC Gases Predicted to Deplete Ozone Layer
 They calculated that if human use of CFC gases is to continue at an unaltered rate the ozone layer will be depleted by many percent after some decades. (Return to Top)
1979 - James C. Coomer publishes "Quest for a Sustainable Society"
In his own chapter, “The Nature of the Quest for a Sustainable Society”, he describes “the sustainable society is one that lives within the self-perpetuating limits of its environment. That society... is not a “no growth” society... It is rather, a society that recognizes the limits of growth... [and] looks for alternative ways of growing”. "The management of sustainable growth" by Woodlands Conference on Growth Policy 1979. Published in 1981, Published in cooperation with The Woodlands Conference [by] Pergamon Press (New York) (Return to Top)
The strategy defines development as "the modification of the biosphere and the application of human, financial, living and non-living resources to satisfy human needs and improve the quality of human life". The section “Towards Sustainable Development” identifies the main agents of habitat destruction as poverty, population pressure, social inequity and the terms of trade. It calls for a new International Development Strategy with the aims of redressing inequities, achieving a more dynamic and stable world economy, stimulating accelerating economic growth and countering the worst impacts of poverty. "Sustainable development" is defined as the maintenance of essential ecological processes and life support systems, the preservation of genetic diversity, and the sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems. An updated version entitled "Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living" (IUCN/WWF, 1991) was published in 1991. (Return to Top)
1981 - Global 2000 Report by US Council on Environmental Quality
The study director, Gerald O. Barney, based the research on computer models to make projections for the future based on trends for the 1960s and 1970s. The conclusion: If present trends continue, the world in 2000 will be more crowded, and more vulnerable to disruption than the world we live in now. Serious stresses involving population, resources, and environment are clearly visible ahead. Despite greater material output, the worlds people will be poorer in many ways than they are today. This report provides a comprehensive (and surprisingly accurate) projection of global environmental impacts and resource supply issues over the next 20 years. The Report recognizes biodiversity for the first time as a critical characteristic in the proper functioning of the planetary ecosystem. (Return to Top)
1985 - WMS, UNEP and ICSU Predicts Global Warming
It reports on the build-up of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The meeting predicts global warming.
1986 - Sustainable Development seen as an Emerging Paradigm
Participants see sustainable development as an emerging paradigm derived from two closely related paradigms of conservation:
1987 - "Our Common Future" (Brundtland Report) published - "Sustainable Development" defined
 The report weaves together consideration of social, economic, cultural, and environmental issues. For the first time it gives some direction for comprehensive global solutions. It also popularizes the term "sustainable development" defining it as: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". (Chairperson Gro Harlem Brundtland) (Return to Top)
1988 - Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
It was set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as an effort by the United Nations to provide the governments of the world with a clear scientific view of what is happening to the world’s climate. The initial task for the IPCC as outlined in the UN General Assembly Resolution 43/53 of 6 December 1988 was to prepare a comprehensive review and recommendations with respect to the state of knowledge of the science of climate change; social and economic impact of climate change, possible response strategies and elements for inclusion in a possible future international convention on climate. The scientific evidence brought up by the first IPCC Assessment Report of 1990 unveiled the importance of climate change as a topic deserving a political platform among countries to tackle its consequences. It therefore played a decisive role in leading to the creation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the key international treaty to reduce global warming and cope with the consequences of climate change. (Return to Top)
1988 - Ben and Jerry’s first Social Performance Assessments
Ben and Jerry’s (Ice Cream Company) in the United State produces first Social Performance Assessments. (Return to Top)
Allan Solomon in the Forward to Toward Ecological Sustainability in Europe: Climate, Water Resources, Soils, and Biota - a report written for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) he states that: "Ecologically sustainable development is a condition in which society's use of renewable resources takes place without destruction of the resources or of the environmental context which they require. One problem for society in such use is the inadequacy of the knowledge required to define sustainability limits for specific characteristics of the environment. Thus, continuing regional economic development, combined with anthropogenic changes at global scales may inadvertently and unnecessarily obliterate plant and animal populations, impoverish forest ecosystems, destroy soil fertility and structure, and contaminate water supplies." (Return to Top)
1991 - UNEP and WWF publish "Caring for the Earth: 2nd World Conservation Strategy"
The strategy builds on the first World Conservation Strategy. In order to keep the focus on the concept of "sustainability" the strategy deliberately avoids using the term "sustainable development". Instead it talks about a "sustainable society", "sustainable living" and "sustainability" itself. (Return to Top)
1992 - U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) publishes "Agenda 21"
It results in the publication of Agenda 21, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Rio Declaration, and a statement of non-binding Forest Principles. The terms "sustainable development" and "sustainability" are used throughout the Agenda 21 document but are undefined. The main achievement of the Earth Summit is a treaty to reduce emissions of "greenhouse gases" which help trap heat in the atmosphere and are believed to be a cause of global warming. Nations adopt 1990 as the benchmark year at the summit in which industrialized countries agree to take voluntary steps to cut emissions to that year's levels. Most countries, other than Germany and Great Britain, have failed to meet that goal. The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in December 1992 to ensure effective follow-up of UNCED, to monitor and report on implementation of the agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels. It was agreed that a five year review of Earth Summit progress would be made in 1997 by the United Nations General Assembly meeting in special session. The full implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Commitments to the Rio principles, were strongly reaffirmed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 26 August to 4 September 2002. (Return to Top)
1992 - Creation of Business for Social Responsibility
BSR is a US-based global resource which assists companies to sustain their commercial success while respecting ethical values, people, communities and the environment. Its sister organization, the Business for Social Responsibility Education Fund (BSREF), is a charitable organization which conducts research and educational programs. Its website includes news and in-depth reports on corporate social responsibility, BSR's events, publications and information on BSR training programs. (Return to Top)
1992 - NASA reports "Ozone Hole" over Antarctica grew 15%
The Antarctic ozone hole, first spotted in 1985, is caused by the depletion of the Earthshielding ozone layer by human-made chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons, known as CFCs. (Return to Top)
1994 - John Elkington coins the term Triple Bottom Line
The phrase was coined by John Elkington in 1994. It was later expanded and articulated in his 1998 book Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. Sustainability, itself, was first defined by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations in 1987. The concept of TBL demands that a company's responsibility be to stakeholders rather than shareholders. In this case, "stakeholders" refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm. According to the stakeholder theory, the business entity should be used as a vehicle for coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of maximizing shareholder (owner) profit. (Return to Top)
1994 - Greenpeace published "The Climate Timebomb"
The information in the catalogue, which also includes the latest scientific developments and projected future impacts, has been taken from a variety of sources, including scientific journals, newspapers, magazines and computer databases. More than 500 events from all corners of the world are listed. Examples include floods, droughts, hurricanes, windstorms, forest fires, temperature records, melting glaciers and spread of insects and diseases. (Return to Top)
1996
"USDA is committed to working toward the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of diverse food, fiber, agriculture, forest, and range systems. USDA will balance goals of improved production and profitability, stewardship of the natural resource base and ecological systems, and enhancement of the vitality of rural communities. USDA will integrate these goals into its policies and programs, particularly through interagency collaboration, partnerships and outreach." [Secretary's Memorandum 9500-6: Sustainable Development (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary, Sept. 13, 1996)] (Return to Top)
1996 - OECD publishes "Pollution Prevention and Control, Environmental Criteria for Sustainable Transport"
1997 - Kyoto Protocol "Framework Convention on Climate Change"
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities." The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. 184 Parties of the Convention have ratified its Protocol to date. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are called the "Marrakesh Accords." Under the Treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Kyoto Protocol offers them an additional means of meeting their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms. (Return to Top)
1998 - Colin Campbell & Jean Laherrere publish "The End of Cheap Oil"
 They argue that world oil production will most likely peak in volume before 2010. This position is now also supported in broad terms by the International Energy Agency. "The world is not running out of oil--at least not yet. What our society does face, and soon, is the end of the abundant and cheap oil on which all industrial nations depend." - Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. Laherrere (Return to Top)
1998 - Specialists Announce Global Warming Killing World's Coral Reefs
"Global warming is killing the world's coral reefs, and with them the swarming sea life they shelter and support, scientists said at the Buenos Aires climate talks Friday." Satellites measuring the surface temperature of Earth's oceans have tracked a steady rise since 1982. Warmer seas have led many corals to "bleach," turn white as the algae that feed and color them are driven out, and die. Abnormally high 1998 sea temperatures, the warmest on record, are thought to have bleached and killed most of the corals in the Indian Ocean, and in many areas of the Western and Eastern Pacific, the scientists said. Coral mortality has been especially high in the ecologically prized Maldives, where up to 90 percent of reefs have been laid bare, they said. Around 170 nations have gathered at the United Nations global warming conference in Buenos Aires to discuss ways of cutting emissions of heat- trapping gases. "Unless this conference takes immediate effective action to stop global climate change, coral reefs and the benefits they provide will be condemned to death. Other ecosystems will follow," the World Conservation Union said. (Return to Top) The book reports on the results of a major program backed by the Dutch Government to develop technologies that can improve resource use efficiency by between Factor 20 and Factor 50 (that is, by between 95% and 98%). It also outlines a very practical and systematic methodology for achieving such extraordinary efficiency gains in a timely fashion. (Return to Top)
2009 - "Where are we now?"
Preserving our environment for future generations may well mean making sacrifices in the here and now. Additions to follow...
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