Historical and political development of the UN’s main conferences on the climate and the environment

Abstract

This reflection aims to analyze the historical and political evolution of the major UN world conferences on climate and the environment. Aware that human action has compromised the future continuity of life on the planet, the United Nations has promoted the debate to rethink humankind’s relationship with nature, and with the idea of development and sustainability. The itinerary for this reflection begins with the Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, Eco-92, and goes on to consider Rio + 20, the Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, before finally coming to the Climate Conference (COP 21) held in Paris in December 2015, known as the Paris Agreement. It aims to evaluate the impasses, breakthroughs and historical and political perspectives of these documents aimed at preventing human “achievements” and “progress” from compromising life on Earth as a whole.