According to the declaration from the United Nations first Conference on
the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 "Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations." 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established by the General Assembly in 1973 with the mission to advocate and promote sound environmental management for sustainable development and to coordinate United Nations environmental activities. 

Fifteen years after the Stockholm conference, the report Our Common Future was published. It is a landmark document integrating protection of
the environment with peace, security and development launching the principle of Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD).  

The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was established in 1992 to improve the UN activities in the field of environment and development. 

The United Nations has organized major world conferences on the human environment:

• The United Nation Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm in 1972
• The United Nations on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992
• The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali in 2007 (COP13)
• The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań in 2008 (COP14)
• The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in 2009
• The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban in 2011 (COP17). 

In 1997, the General Assembly held a Special Session ot the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 (Earth Summit +5), New York, 23-27 June.

In September 2002, the General Assembly convened the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg to review the outcome of the earlier conferences. 

The Plan of Action of the Rio Conference, Agenda 21. Environment and Development. Rio de Janeiro, 14 June 1992, and the Final Declaration, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, are posted online at the UN official web site section United Nations Environment Programme. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established in 1988 by WMO and the UNEP for the purpose of assessing scientific, technical and socio-economic research related to climate change.  IPCC reports are widely cited by
the media and in the debate related to climate change.

The Summit on Climate Change was convened in New York on September 22, 2009, with the objective to mobilize
the political will and vision for a agreement at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December.