Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 83

fall as rain, snow, or solids on the delicate boreal soil. The post-glacial soil
lacks buffers found farther south, so the acid washed into lakes, where it
increased the acid balance causing fish and plants to die. For a long time,
the acid-emitting countries denied their responsibility, claiming scientific
evidence was not conclusive. Sweden presented incriminating data at the
1972 Stockholm Conference and at other European meetings without much
success. Finally, in 1982 the polluting countries acknowledged the damage
they were doing. Germany, for one, recognized its own problem of trees dying
in the Black Forest. Finally, in 1985 Sweden and other affected countries
signed a protocol under the Convention on Long Range Trans-boundary
Air Pollution, and three years later another on nitrous oxides.
The Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, known as
the first Earth Summit, was a turning point. Credit for the idea goes to
Inga Thorsson, an employee at the United Nations in New York. The head
of the country's delegation, Sverker Astrom, promoted the idea. In 1968
Sweden introduced a resolution at a meeting of the UN Economic and
Social Council. The promoters set a date for the summit four years in the
future to give time for thorough preparation. Because the Swedes initi-
ated the proposal, Stockholm was the logical site. As preparations began,
public interest in the environment grew rapidly. Many Western countries
debated and passed laws. The first Earth Day in 1970 was an international
event. When the Conference opened in Stockholm, delegations came from
113 countries. The UN named Maurice Strong to be the secretary-general
for the conference. He was a Canadian diplomat and businessman, who
took an energetic role in making the meeting a success.
By its end the conference issued three documents. First was a brief
Blueprint for Survival outlining objectives in 13 categories, with a timeline
out to the year 2075, such as the elimination of pesticides. Second was
the Declaration on the Human Environment, with 26 principles, such as
Number 6: ending the discharge of toxic material. Some principles went
beyond strictly environmental ones, such as ending racial discrimination
and colonialism. Third was to set out an Action Plan later adopted by the
UN General Assembly. This led to establishment of the UN Environment
Program. The conference also advanced negotiations for treaties like the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The Stockholm Summit was strongly influenced by the Club of Rome
Report issued only a few weeks before it convened. This was a massive
computer simulation of the future of the earth, predicting scarcity of land
for farming and resources like oil and timber, and a surplus of pollution.