The Environment Chronicle

The Council of the European Communities has adopted the Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste. Known as the Waste Framework Directive, the Directive establishes a framework for the management of waste across the European Community.

The first protest is aimed at the Soviet whaling fleet. Greenpeace members in rubber dinghies place themselves between the whales and the harpoons. Film of the protest alarms the entire world.

The purpose of the act is in particular 1. to maintain forests because of their usefulness and significance for the environment, extending them where necessary, and ensuring an orderly sustainable management. 2. to support forestry. 3. to balance the interests of the public good and the owners of forests.

The Jacob Maersk loses 88,000 t oil off the Atlantic coast of Portugal.

Herbert Gruhl (1921 - 1993), at the time a CDU member of parliament, publishes his (sometimes controversial) book.

Bird of the Year 1975 is the Eurasian Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria).

Objective proof of the connection between the destruction of the ozone layer and the release of aerosol propellants.

The World Food Council is set up on the recommendation of the Rome World Food Conference. It is the highest committee directing and coordinating various UN organisations in solving world hunger.

The conference seeks to coordinate measures for combating hunger and malnourishment. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and a world food council are called into being.

On 9 August 1974, the Netherlands tanker Metula ran aground on the Satellite Patch Shoal in the Straits of Magellan, Chile. Approximately 53,000 tons crude oil ran out.

Within the portfolio of the Environment Minister, an independent federal authority is set up, the Federal Environmental Agency.

Within the portfolio of the Home Affairs Minister, an independent federal authority is set up, the Federal Environmental Agency. After the Chernobyl reactor disaster, the FEA is transferred to the Environment Ministry.

§1 It is the purpose of this Act to protect human beings, animals and plants, the soil, water, the atmosphere as well as cultural assets and other material goods against harmful effects on the environment and, to the extent that this concerns installations subject to licensing, also from hazards, considerable disadvantages and considerable nuisance caused in any other way, and to take precautions against the emergence of any such harmful effects on the environment. The act forms the legal basis for numerous regulations on air quality, noise abatement and industrial safety in subsequent years.

L. S. Rowland and M. J. Molina demonstrate the likelihood that the chemically stable, and therefore persistent, CFC compounds are destroying stratospheric ozone.

81 environmental and conservation organisations make up the European Environmental Bureau, which aims to leverage the influence of these groups in improving EU environmental and conservation policy, especially with regard to UNCED decisions.

The Advisory Scientific Council, a committee of experts reporting to the German government, produces its first report.

The conference recommends a world population action plan for governments, in order to better understand the problem of population growth.

The "Metula" loses 50,000 t oil in the Straits of Magellan between Tierra del Fuego and Chile.

The Club of Rome's second report appears: "Mankind at the Turning-Point" by Mihailo Mesarovic and Eduard Pestel.

Bird of the Year 1974 is the House martin (Delichon urbica).

Greenpeace sail to the French atoll for a second time. French soldiers enter their yacht, beating up one protester, McTaggart. Others manage to smuggle photographs of the attack from board. These are published all around the world. France abandons the test series.

The European Community starts its first Environmental Action Programme

CITES aims to protect specific species of flora and fauna from excessive exploitation by international trade. It is legally binding in civil law.

Bird of the Year 1973 is the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis).

On 19 December 1972 in Oman Sea the South Korean Sea Star supertanker collided with Brazilian tanker Horta Barbosa and spilled about 115000 tons of crude oil into the Gulf of Oman.

The convention's chief aims are to conserve globally important natural heritage (unique landscapes and geological formations), cultivated landscapes and cultural heritage. It is legally binding in civil law.

Greenpeace extends its protests to French atomic tests in French Polynesia. They hold their position 15 Knots from the atoll for many weeks, until they hear an explosion. They are unaware that radioactive dust is now falling near them. 2 yours later, a French warship rams them in international waters. The damage is such that the crew must be towed to Moruroa.

The Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz e.V (Federal Association of Environmental Action Groups) is the umbrella organization of environmental action groups in Germany. Since its foundation on 24 June 1972, by groups campaigning for environmental protection, the BBU has become a vital force in the development of the green and peace movements in Germany.

The conference created the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as well as an international Environment day on 5th June. The conference also decides to include non-UN scientific organisations in realising the programme (a "parallel action plan"). The wish to mediate more between the industrialised and developing world was also expressed.

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on 5 June in more than 100 countries around the world. World Environment Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and the creation of UNEP. WED is commemorated each year in a different city of the world. The World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The 6th conference of German environment ministers in 1976 determined that World Environment Day would also be celebrated in Germany.

The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. Its main goal is the conservation of certain seal species in the southern polar seas.

The 3 March 1973 is the anniversary of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It was launched by a decision to counter the increasing threat to wild fauna and flora by international trade. Since then it has become one of the most effective tools in the fight against the loss of species.

Since 1972, the European Union (formerly the European Community) has passed over 200 guidelines and directives, which belong to the core sources of environmental law in member states.

This programme was initiated by a decision at the UN Environmental Conference in Stockholm. It aims to support national action and regional cooperation in conservation and environmental protection, as well as developing, evaluating and monitoring international conservation and environmental law. It initiates regional programmes, advises governments, funds training and has produced reports and databases to support these projects. Prof. Klaus Töpfer, the former German environment minister has been its executive director since February 1998.

Since 1972, the European Union (formerly the European Community) has passed over 200 guidelines and directives, which belong to the core sources of environmental law in member states.

The much-discussed first report to the Club of Rome, "The Limits of Growth", by Dennis L. Meadows, is published.

Fundamental change in waste disposal methods - instead of 50,000 smaller dumps, c. 1,000 larger landfills are used.

This summit makes environmental protection a political reality.

Bird of the Year 1972 is the Little Owl (Athene noctua).

The Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) was established by a charter of the Federal Ministry of the Interior on December 28, 1971 (GMBI 1972, No. 3, page 27), as part of the federal government's environmental programme of October 1971. The SRU was constituted and commenced operation in 1972. It consists of seven university professors from a range of different environment-related disciplines. The members of the Council are appointed by the German government for a four-year period. The interdisciplinary SRU is fully independent to determine the focus and scope of its reports.