Timeline of the environmentalist movement

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This is a timeline of the environmentalist movement, focusing on its moden aspect after the industrial revolution. Previous environmental–related events are recorded since ancient times.

Big picture

Year/period Key developments
19th century The environmentalist movement begins in Europe very early in the century, coming into existence through the Romantic movement.[1] The late 19th century would see the formation of the first wildlife conservation societies.[2]
1950s–1960s The environmental movement continues to grow with many influential books being published. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, would become especially influential as it exposes the harmful effects of the pesticide DDT.[1]
1970s Very important period for the green movement with many groups, like Greenpeace, being founded. The first Earth Day and the United Nations first environmental conference also happen in the 70s.[1]
1980s A growing awareness on global warming increases the prominence of the environmental movement.[1]
2000s–present The Great Recession provokes a weakening of the environmental movement’s strength to some degree.[1]

Timeline

Year/period Type of event Event Location
1662 Publication The conservation movement can be traced back to John Evelyn's work Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber, presented as a paper to the Royal Society. Published as a book two years later, it would become one of the most influential texts on forestry ever published.[3] United Kingdom
1842 "The Madras Board of Revenue started local conservation efforts in 1842, headed by Alexander Gibson, a professional botanist who systematically adopted a forest conservation program based on scientific principles. This was the first case of state management of forests in the world" India
1855 Program launch British rule introduces the first permanent and large-scale forest conservation program in the world in India. This model soon would spread to other colonies, as well the United States. India
1860 Policy British India bans the use of shifting cultivation.[4] India
1863 Policy The Britain's Alkali Acts are passed to regulate the deleterious air pollution (gaseous hydrochloric acid) given off by the Leblanc process, used to produce soda ash.[5] United Kingdom
1865 Organization The British Commons Preservation Society is formed as a movement with aims at protecting rural preservation against the encroachments of industrialization.[6] United Kingdom
1869 Policy The Sea Birds Preservation Act is passed by the British parliament. The passage is considered one of the first pieces of parliamentary legislation anywhere in the world to protect wildlife, and the first to offer birds protection on the United Kingdom.[7] United Kingdom
1875 Policy The United Kingdom Public Health Act 1875 requires all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their own smoke.[8] United Kingdom
1889 Organization The Plumage League (later the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) is founded.[9] United Kingdom
1892 Organization Sierra Club is founded. It would become one of the first large-scale environmental preservation organizations in the world.[10] United States (San Francisco)
1898 Organization The Coal Smoke Abatement Society is founded by Sir William Blake Richmond. It is one of the oldest environmental NGOs.[11] United Kingdom
1922 Organization The Izaak Walton League is founded as an environmental organization that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. United States (Chicago)
1933 Germany adopts legislation on animal rights. Germany
1947 Organization Defenders of Wildlife is founded as a non-profit conservation organization with aims at protecting animals and plants native to North America in their natural communities. United States (Chicago)
1948 (October) Organization The International Union for Conservation of Nature is founded as an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.[12] France (Fontainebleau)
1961 (April) Organization The World Wildlife Foundation (now called World Wide Fund for Nature) is founded. It works in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of humanity's footprint on the environment.[13] Switzerland (Morges)
1962 (September) Publication American marine biologist Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring, calling attention to the threat of toxic chemicals to people and the environment. The book would prove to be a huge influence on environmental policies across the world, and Carson would be regarded as one of the greatest influences in the history of the environmental movement.[14] Unites States
1968 Publication Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich publishes The Population Bomb, which describes the ecological threats of a rapidly growing human population.[15] Unites States
1968 (15 September) Conference UNESCO organizes the first Biosphere Conference. Experts from around the world gather to discuss global environmental problems, including pollution, resource loss, and wetlands destruction.[16] France
1970 (22 April) The first Earth Day is celebrated, today a worldwide event. In the United States, 20 million citizens would take to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment.[17] Worldwide
1971 Organization A group of 12 activists sets out on a fishing trawler from Vancouver, to protest the United States nuclear testing in Alaska. This date is considered the beginning of the international movement called Greenpeace.[18] Canada, United States (Alaska)
1971 Conference Menton Conference. 2,200 scientists, gathered and sign the “Menton Message” to the United Nations, stressing the need for collective international action in finding solutions to the "problems of pollution, hunger, overpopulation, and war."[19] France (Menton)
1972 Publication An association of scientists and political leaders known as the Club of Rome publishes The Limits to Growth, a book which predicts civilisation would probably collapse some time the twenieth century at current rates of population growth, resource depletion, and pollution generation.[20]
1972 (5 June) Organization The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is established with aims at guiding and coordinating environmental activities within the United Nations (UN) system.[21]
1972 Publication British economist Barbara Ward and microbiologist Rene Dubos publish Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet, written for the forthcoming United Nations Stockholm conference on the Human Environment. The book warns that human actions are undermining the Earth's ability to support us.[22]
1972 Conference The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment is held. It would be the UN's first major conference on international environmental issues, marking a turning point in the development of international environmental politics.[23][24] Sweden (Stockholm)
1972 Publication Professor Christopher D. Stone, from the University of Southern California publishes article Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects addressing the question of whether natural objects themselves should have legal rights. In the essay, Stone suggests that his argument is valid because many current rightsholders (women, children) were once seen as objects.[25] United States
1972 Program launch United Nations System-wide Earthwatch is established by the United Nations as an initiative to monitor major global disturbance in the environment and to give early warning of problems requiring international action.[26]
1973 (April) Organization The Chipko movement launches as a forest conservation movement, with aims at protecting trees from commercial logging, which began to cause severe deforestation, soil erosion, and flooding in the region. This movement would become a rallying point for many future environmental movements all over the world.[27] India
1974 Publication Mexican chemist Mario Molina and American chemist Frank Sherwood Rowland publish the first warnings of damage to stratospheric ozone.
1979 Crisis The Three Mile Island accident occurs. In the aftermath, many mass anti-nuclear protests would take place, the largest one being in New York City in September 1979 and involving 200,000 people.[28] United States
1980 (April) Organization Earth First! is founded as a radical environmental advocacy group.[29] United States
1985 (22 March) Organization The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is signed as a Multilateral Environmental Agreement. Having entered into force in 1988, in terms of universality, the agreement would become one of the most successful treaties of all time, having been ratified by 197 states (all United Nations members as well as the Holy See, Niue and the Cook Islands) as well as the European Union.[30] Austria (Vienna)
1991 (October) Organization The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is founded. It unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs). Today the GEF is the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment. The GEF is the largest environmental multilateral fund in the world.[31][32]
1985 Background British research team led by geophysicist Joe Farman reports that there is a hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctica.[15]
1986 Organization Pro–Natura is founded as an environmental and poverty alleviation NGO. By 1992 it would become internationalized and headquartered in Paris.[33] Brazil
1986 Background Chernobyl disaster occurs. The accident would inspire massive demonstrations. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people march in Rome to protest against the Italian nuclear program.[34]
1987 Award The Global 500 Roll of Honour is established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to recognize the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world.[35]
1987 Publication The World Commission on Environment and Development publishes Our Common Future ( also known as Brundtland Report), within which the theme of Sustainable Development is established.[24]
1987 (September) Treaty The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is adopted to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.[36] Canada (Montreal)
1988 Background Scientists discover a second hole in the ozone layer, this time over the Arctic region.[15]
1988 Organization The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is formed as a scientific and intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations at the request of member governments, it dedicates to the task of providing the world with an objective, scientific view of climate change and its political and economic impacts.[37]
1988 (December) Background Brazilian environmental leader Chico Mendes is murdered by cattle ranchers. Mendes' murder would make international headlines, and would lead to an outpouring of support for the environmental movements.[38] Brazil
1989 Organization GRID-Arendal, a center collaborating with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is established by the Norwegian Government as a non-profit foundation to support the United Nations in the field of environmental information management and assessment, capacity-building and communications and outreach.[39] Norway (Arendal)
1991 Organization UNEP OzonAction is created as a branch of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Part of UNEP's Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, UNEP OzonAction assists developing countries to achieve and sustain their compliance with the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and make informed decisions on alternative technologies and ozone-friendly policies.[40][41] France (Paris)
1992 (June) Conference The Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit is held. 172 governments and, and 116 heads of state participate. An important achievement of the summit would be an agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn would lead to the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.[42][24][43] Brazil
1992 Organization The Sahara and Sahel Observatory (French: Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel, OSS) is established as an African intergovernmental organization, with aims at protecting the environment in Sahara and Sahel.[44] France (Paris)
1993 Organization The European Forest Institute (EFI) is founded as an NGO, with the purpose of offering forest research contacts and collaboration at the European level. By 2005 it would become an international organization.[45] Finland (Joensuu)
1995 Program launch The Global Environment Outlook (GEO) project is launched by the United Nations Environment Programme inorder assess environmental issues and to have them published, in response to the environmental reporting requirements which requested the production of a new comprehensive global state of the environment report.[46]
1995 Organization The Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) is established by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as an independent advisory body. STAP comprises seven expert advisers supported by the Secretariat, which are together responsible for connecting the GEF to the most up to date, authoritative and globally representative science.[47]
1997 Treaty The Kyoto Protocol is adopted as an international treaty, with aims at setting specific targets and deadlines to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Under Kyoto, industrialized nations would pledge to cut their yearly emissions of carbon, as measured in six greenhouse gases, by varying amounts. Nearly all nations would further ratify the treaty, with the notable exception of the United States.[48] Japan (Kyoto)
1999 Program launch The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) is launched as a program of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity. The GSPC seeks to halt the continuing loss of plant diversity, and also to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development.[49]
2001 Organization The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) is established as a United Nations initiative, with aims at conserving the non-human great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans) and their habitats.[50]
2002 The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is first published by Yale University as a method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies. EPI is designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.[51]
2002 (August) conference The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) is held, with the purpose of discussing sustainable development by the United Nations.[24] South Africa (Johannesburg)
2004 "The United Nations Environment Programme established Champions of the Earth in 2004 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders at a policy level. Six awards are given out each year to a Laureate representing different geographical regions with one additional special prize."
2006 Program launch The Billion Tree Campaign by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a response to the challenges of global warming, as well as challenges of water supply in face of biodiversity loss. With an initial target of planting one billion trees by 2007, after this achievement, the next target would be set at seven billion trees by 2009. As of 2016, over 14.2 billion trees have been planted.[52]
2006 (March) "March 2006 - Green.TV Launches in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme" "Green.TV is the multi-channel video publishing network for clean tech, conservation and sustainability stories. It launched in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)."
2007 "In the United States, 2007 witnessed the largest grassroots environmental demonstration in years, Step It Up 2007, with rallies in over 1,400 communities and all 50 states for real global warming solutions."
2007 Organization International Carbon Action Partnership is launched as an international forum, with aims at providing the opportunity for member jurisdictions to share best practices and discuss emissions trading systems (ETS) design elements with a view to creating a well-functioning global carbon market through linking ETS.[53] Portugal (Lisbon)
2008 (24 September) Program launch The United Nations REDD Programme is launched as a collaborative program of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under the plan "to reduce forest emissions and enhance carbon stocks in forests while contributing to national sustainable development".[54] Switzerland (Geneva
2011 (March) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
2012 (16 February) "The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC) was launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and six countries—Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States—on 16 February 2012. The CCAC aims to catalyze rapid reductions in short-lived climate pollutants to protect human health, agriculture and the environment."
2012 (April) Organization The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is established as an independent intergovernmental body, with aims at strengthening the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services.[55] Panama (Panama City)
2012 (June) Database launch The UNEP Environmental Data Explorer is launched. It is the authoritative source for data sets used by the UNEP and its partners in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report and other integrated environment assessments.[56]
2012 (November) Conference The 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held. The conference reaches an agreement to extend the life of the Kyoto Protocol, which would due to expire at the end of 2012, until 2020.[57] Qatar (Doha)
2014 (March) Report The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases a report predicting dire environmental and economic consequences for the entire world if the leading economies do not start to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately.[15]
2014 (1 May) Organization The World Nature Organization is established as an intergovernmental organization with aims at “promoting sustainable development, information and knowledge transfer among states, organizations and the economic sector, as regards preserving the natural environment, environmentally-friendly technologies, green economies, renewable energies, protection of resources, protection of water, forest, air, oceans and climate.[58]
2015 (November) Treaty The historic Paris climate agreement is held within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 195 United Nations members sign the historic agreement with the ultimate goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.[24] France (Paris)
2016 (15 October) Treaty The 197 Parties to the Montreal Protocol adopt the Kigali Amendment in order to phase down production and consumption of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) worldwide.[36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "A Brief History On Environmentalism". thegreenmedium.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  2. ↑ "Environmentalism". britannica.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  3. ↑ John Evelyn, Sylva, Or A Discourse of Forest Trees ... with an Essay on the Life and Works of the Author by John Nisbet, Fourth Edition (1706), reprinted London: Doubleday & Co., 1908, V1, p. lxv; online edn, March 2007 [1], accessed 29 Dec 2012. This source (John Nisbet) states: "There can be no doubt that John Evelyn, both during his own lifetime and throughout the two centuries which have elapsed since his death in 1706, has exerted more individual influence, through his charming Sylva, ... than can be ascribed to any other individual." Nisbet adds that "Evelyn was by no means the first [author] who wrote on [forestry]. That honour belongs to Master Fitzherbert, whose Boke of Husbandrie was published in 1534" (V1, p. lxvi).
  4. ↑ Simmons, Ian G. "in+1860"+"india"++"banned+shifting+cultivation"&source=bl&ots=Ayhz3Acdhj&sig=hqn7mW_Xntcd0ILzgh8Xtzb1kgA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE577s-r3UAhUEj5AKHfNFDyMQ6AEIIjAA#v=onepage&q="in 1860" "india" "banned shifting cultivation"&f=false Global Environmental History: 10,000 BC to AD 2000: 10,000 BC to AD 2000 Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  5. ↑ Alkali Acts Amendment. A Bill to Amend the Alkali Acts 1863 and 1874, and to Provide for the More Effectual Condensation of Noxious and Offensive Gases in Alkali and Other Works. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  6. ↑ "Open Spaces Society". oss.org.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  7. ↑ "The 1869 Sea Birds Preservation Act". iberianature.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  8. ↑ "public health act 1875 in a sentence". ichacha.net. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  9. ↑ "Well done to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on reaching 125 years". express.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  10. ↑ "WHO WE ARE". sierraclub.org. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  11. ↑ "The UK's oldest environmental charity faces closure". bbc.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  12. ↑ "About". iucn.org. Retrieved 12 June 2017. 
  13. ↑ "World Wildlife Foundation". gutenberg.org. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  14. ↑ "How 'Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement". nytimes.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Milestones in Environmental Protection". infoplease.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  16. ↑ "The Paris Biosphere Conference of 1968". ecosostenibile.org. Retrieved 12 June 2017. 
  17. ↑ "Earth Day". earthday.org. Retrieved 12 June 2017. 
  18. ↑ "History: Sept 15, 1971, the Canadian origins of Greenpeace". rcinet.ca. Retrieved 12 June 2017. 
  19. ↑ "A Message to Our Planet from 1971". mountainsangha.org. Retrieved 12 June 2017. 
  20. ↑ "Limits to Growth was right. New research shows we're nearing collapse". theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 June 2017. 
  21. ↑ "United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)". britannica.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  22. ↑ "Only One Earth". newint.org. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  23. ↑ "United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference)". un.org. Retrieved 12 June 2017. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 "An Overview of the Paris Agreement" (PDF). cscr.pk. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  25. ↑ "Should Trees Have Standing? Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects". princetonindependent.com. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  26. ↑ "Earthwatch". unep.ch. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  27. ↑ "The Chipko movement". teri.res.in. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  28. ↑ "Miscellany News, Volume LXVIII, Number 16, 28 September 1979". vassar.edu. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  29. ↑ "Earth First!". pollutionissues.com. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  30. ↑ "Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer". United Nations Treaty Series. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  31. ↑ "UNIDO and the Global Environment Facility". unido.org. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  32. ↑ "Canada Increases Funding for Global Effort to Fight Climate Change". acdi-cida.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  33. ↑ "Pro-Natura: Green Charcoal for Sustainable Development". biochar-international.org. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  34. ↑ Giugni, Marco. Social Protest and Policy Change: Ecology, Antinuclear, and Peace Movements in Comparative Perspective. 
  35. ↑ "Global 500". global500.org. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer". state.gov. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  37. ↑ "HISTORY". ipcc.ch. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  38. ↑ "Chico Mendes: A living legacy". edf.org. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  39. ↑ "About GRID-Arendal". grida.no. Retrieved 11 June 2017. 
  40. ↑ "Ozone Links". theozonehole.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  41. ↑ "United Nations Ozone Action Program Wins U.S. Government Prize". ens-newswire.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  42. ↑ "THE RIO EARTH SUMMIT: SUMMARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT". publications.gc.ca. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  43. ↑ "UNCED Conference". un.org. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  44. ↑ "Sahara and Sahel Observatory". oss-online.org. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  45. ↑ "History". efi.int. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  46. ↑ "About Global Assessments". unep.org. Retrieved 10 June 2017. 
  47. ↑ "PROGRESS REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNEP ON THE RECONSTITUTION OF STAP" (PDF). thegef.org. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  48. ↑ "What is the Kyoto protocol and has it made any difference?". theguardian.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  49. ↑ "The First Asian Plant Conservation Report" (PDF). iucn.org. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  50. ↑ "Apes Among Us: GRASP Photo Exhibition Speaks for the Ages". medium.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  51. ↑ "Analysis of Yale-Environmental Performance Index (EPI)". ecologic.eu. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  52. ↑ "History What happened so far". plant-for-the-planet.org. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  53. ↑ "About ICAP". icapcarbonaction.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017. 
  54. ↑ "UN-REDD Programme 2016-2020 Strategic Framework". unredd.net. Retrieved 13 June 2017. 
  55. ↑ "External Review of IPBES Assessments by Governments and Experts". ipbes.net. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  56. ↑ "Environmental Data Explorer". unep.ch. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  57. ↑ "The Doha Climate Gateway". unfccc.int. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
  58. ↑ "International Law in Brief". asil.org. Retrieved 9 June 2017. 
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