India, June 2 -- On June 5, 1972, back when concern for the environment was neither fashionable nor a global priority, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was inaugurated at Stockholm, Sweden. Attended by 122 countries, the conference set the world on a new path, and led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The road to the landmark conference, tasked with providing guidelines for action by national governments and international organizations, was far from smooth. Recent colonisers like Britain, France and Italy, fearful that their former colonies would demand reparations for past environmental sins, plotted to stymie the conference. On their part, the former colonies were understandably w...