One Earth, One Security Space: From the 1972 Stockholm Conference to Stockholm+50 and Beyond

Nov 22, 2022 | David Michel
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The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment marked a watershed in world environmental politics. Gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, the international community collectively recognized that the technologies and economic models that enable modern development were also driving unsustainable environmental degradation, compromising the vital natural systems on which human well-being depends.

 Security and development are two imperatives that both depend, in the long term, on a healthy natural environment and sustainable social-ecological systems. In 2022 as in 1972, realizing these objectives requires recognition of these essential interdependencies. To do this, it is helpful to think of 21st century risks to peace and prosperity, a healthy environment and social equity as unfolding in a “single security space” of interlocking challenges.