The environment has become an important world issue comparatively recently. Environmental damage progressed slowly until populations, technology, and global trade reached levels that greatly accelerated resource use, and environmental destruction. A great deal of environmental damage has occurred during the last half of the 20th century. Changes in environmental quality during this period have stimulated efforts to protect and conserve the environment for future generations.
Conservation takes many different forms around the world.
The UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was a landmark for conservation. Population, relative wealth of natural resources, and degree of development all contribute to the severity of environmental damage, the location of that damage, and both the capacity and willingness to solve the problem. In order to participate in the global economy, poor nations often sell their natural resources and their environment to wealthier nations. Environmental issues are truly global in causes and solutions. These problems are multifaceted, linking economics to environmental and social justice issues.