Andersen, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and King Carl Gustaf were among the attendees of the Stockholm+50 conference on Thursday.

– It is clear that the crisis in Ukraine requires a lot of focus. But as political leaders, we must act in all crises and emergencies in the world, both in terms of the pandemic, the climate crisis and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Andersson said.

He warned of the consequences if the world community did not achieve its climate and environmental goals.

– If we don’t deliver on the promises we’ve made, we’re done, says the Swedish Prime Minister.

[ Til Bor kommer de underernærte barna ]

– Missing leadership

US climate envoy John Kerry and Norwegian climate and environment minister Espen Barth Eide (Labor Party) also participated in the two-day conference in the Swedish capital.

This marks 50 years since the United Nations held its first environmental conference in Stockholm in 1972.

– We know what to do. And we increasingly have the tools to do that. But we still miss leadership and cooperation,” Guterres said as he opened the meeting.

– So now I ask the leaders in all sectors: Get us out of this mess, he added.

King Carl Gustaf warned that the next few years will be crucial if the world is to slow global warming.

– We don’t have another 50 years to turn things around, said the king of Sweden in his opening speech.

Threatened with hunger

The war in Ukraine formed a grim backdrop for the conference. The conflict has affected Ukraine’s wheat exports to poorer countries – countries already threatened by drought and famine, in part because of climate change.

At the conference, delegates from around the world will discuss how the adopted environmental measures can be implemented more quickly. But no new decisions or deals are expected.

When the United Nations held its first environmental conference in 1972, Olof Palme was Prime Minister of Sweden. “The future is ordinary. Together we must share it. Together we must create it”, Palme said at the time – a quote Guterres repeated ahead of this year’s conference.

Swedish EU Minister Hans Dahlgren also attended the conference in 1972, but later as a journalist for SVT. He believes the biggest difference now is that the climate war has become much more precarious.

– The climate crisis is truly an existential question, and it must be resolved now, the 74-year-old politician said.

[ Stortinget skygget unna abortdebatt. Ingen ville engang spørre helseministeren ]

Creating climate panels

In 1972, environmental challenges were much lower on the international agenda. The countries at the Stockholm conference still agreed to form the United Nations Environment Program (Unep), which is currently led by Inger Andersen from Denmark.

In the following years, environmental ministries were established in a large number of countries, and a number of international environmental treaties were adopted. In 1988, Unep helped establish the United Nations Climate Panel.

However, although many countries have introduced important national environmental measures, it has proved very difficult to solve international environmental problems.

Despite a long series of meetings and agreements, more and more species are threatened with extinction – and greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise.