What happened? The world got together in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972 for a conference on human environment. This was the first time folks from all around the globe sat down to have a serious chat about our planet's environment and our needs.

Why does it matter? This conference led to the Stockholm Declaration, a big step in setting goals and action plans for sustainable development. Think of it as a roadmap for us to be more careful about our planet. The conference was crucial both at a local level (like in your hometown) and international level (like policies among different countries).

Imagine if your school made rules for everyone to start recycling and reducing waste. That's sort of like what the Stockholm Declaration did but on a global scale!

What happened? The first ever UN conference focusing entirely on sustainable development. It took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, and was like a giant classroom with 172 governments as students.

Why does it matter? The Earth Summit made sustainable development a key agenda, kind of like making green living a top priority. It gave birth to the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21.

These weren't just casual promises; they were legally binding conventions. One of the key outcomes was the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD is like a group project which is monitored and assessed either every year or every two years by the Conference of the Parties (CoP).

A real-world example is the 14th CoP that took place in Egypt, in the beautiful city of Sharm El-Sheikh, in 2018. It's like a regular check-up to see how well we're doing in preserving our biodiversity.