Stockholm Declaration

This document contains 26 principles that mark the start of a dialogue between industrialized and developing countries on the link between economic growth, the pollution of the air, water, and oceans and the well-being of people around the world. It can be accessed through the website of the United Nations.

The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm was the first world conference to make the environment a major issue. The participants adopted a series of principles for sound management of the environment including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment and several resolutions.

The Action Plan contained three main categories: a) Global Environmental Assessment Programme (watch plan); b) Environmental management activities; c) International measures to support assessment and management activities carried out at the national and international levels. These categories were broken down into 109 recommendations.

One of the major results of the Stockholm conference was the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Some of the contents of the document are:

• Educational, informational, social and cultural aspects of environmental issues
• Planning and management of human settlements for environmental quality
• Environmental aspects of natural resource management