Watch: Scenes from the conference in 1972 that led to World Environment Day
It as 44 years ago that 114 countries met for the first time to discuss the implications of manmade climate change.
Forty-four years ago, on June 5, 1972, representatives of 114 countries met in Stockholm, Sweden. It was the first time the world had come together to think about manmade climate change at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.
At the conference, Indira Gandhi, the only head of state in attendance, gave a seminal speech on climate change and poverty alleviation, an issue that has been contentious for a very long time. She talked of the ironic dichotomy between wanting to go from a developing country to a developed one, but being prevented from using techniques that developed countries in the West used to get there.
She said, "On the one hand the rich look askance at our continuing poverty – on the other, they warn us against their own methods. We do not wish to impoverish the environment any further and yet we cannot for a moment forget the grim poverty of large numbers of people. Are not poverty and need the greatest polluters? For instance, unless we are in a position to provide employment and purchasing power for the daily necessities of the tribal people and those who live in or around our jungles, we cannot prevent them from combing the forest for food and livelihood; from poaching and from despoiling the vegetation. When they themselves feel deprived, how can we urge the preservation of animals?"
Below are a few reports from the landmark 1972 conference.
Many of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat talks have focussed on water scarcity and water conservation. He said, "We must feel the pain if even one drop of water is wasted… Let us promise ourselves that this June, July, August and September we will not allow even a drop to be wasted… This should be our primary concern, so that when we celebrate Diwali this year, we should also feel happy about the amount of water we saved."
The United Nations has set the theme for this year's World Environment Day as "Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife Trade". This is being done to highlight the loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation that has resulted from poaching.