Fifty years after the landmark 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, participants once again gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, to take stock of the state of the human environment and have a frank conversation on the way forward. Taking place against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and a triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, the meeting was marked by a “renewed sense of urgency” around implementation that would deliver a healthy planet for the prosperity of all.

The two-day event, ‘Stockholm+50: A healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity,’ convened from 2-3 June 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden. It featured a series of interactive dialogues focused on three key themes: achieving a healthy planet and prosperity for all; a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; and implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) report of the meeting notes that “[t]hese Leadership Dialogues, along with the statements in plenary, yielded interesting insights and conversations both on the past 50 years and action needed going forward.”

The ENB analysis indicates that the event, described by some as “a commemoration and a conversation, not a negotiation,” enabled open, honest exchanges as there was no pressure to agree a negotiated outcome text. Delegates held in-depth discussions on, among other issues, the triple planetary crisis, intergenerational equity, and the need to align multilateralism with scientific findings. The need to integrate economic policy within planetary boundaries was also highlighted.

The main outcome from Stockholm+50 is a series of ten actionable recommendations “for accelerating action towards a healthy planet for the prosperity of all”:

• Place human well-being at the center of a healthy planet and prosperity for all;
• Recognize and implement the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment;
• Adopt system-wide change in the way our current economic system works to contribute to a healthy planet;
• Strengthen national implementation of existing commitments for a healthy planet;
• Align public and private financial flows with environmental, climate, and sustainable development commitments;
• Accelerate system-wide transformations of high-impact sectors, such as food, energy, water, buildings and construction, manufacturing, and mobility;
• Rebuild relationships of trust for strengthened cooperation and solidarity, through, inter alia, enabling the meaningful participation of all relevant stakeholders, including youth, women, rural communities, Indigenous Peoples, interfaith groups, and local communities, in policy formulation and implementation at the national and international levels;
• Reinforce and reinvigorate the multilateral system, including by ensuring “a fair and effective multilateralism” and strengthening environmental rule of law;
• Recognize intergenerational responsibility as a cornerstone of sound policymaking; and
• Take forward the Stockholm+50 outcomes, through reinforcing and reenergizing the ongoing international processes, including a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, an implementing agreement for the protection of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), and the development of a new plastics treaty, and by engaging with the relevant conferences, such as the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the UNFCCC, and the 2023 Summit of the Future.

Other Stockholm+50 outcomes include a Sweden-led Ministerial Statement on Future Generations, a global petition for a UN declaration of rights of Mother Earth, a Youth Task Force declaration, and a Rio Conventions Joint Presidencies Statement. An Action Plan for a Sustainable Planet in the Digital Age by the Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES), a Green Jobs for Youth Pact, and a monitoring tool for accountability and transparency of the private sector on commitments toward net-zero-carbon, nature-positive, pollution-free activities are among the many initiatives launched during the meeting. [Earth Negotiations Bulletin Coverage of Stockholm+50] [Declaration for Stockholm+50: Restoring Our Common Home] [Stockholm+50 Initiatives and Declarations] [UN News Story]