Environment in world politics: Challenges and prospects

Protection of environment is a major issue in world politics. Environmental degradation, access to resources and their use, global warming, ozone layer depletion, climate change, sustainable development etc. are the major issues of world politics. Environmental crisis has affected the concept of security and has promoted geopolitical competition. The global environmental crisis can be resolved only through global cooperation. This is where the role of environment in world politics begins. Many efforts have been made at the global level to solve environmental problems. Major environmental conferences held at the global level include Stockholm Conference (1972), Montreal Protocol (1987), United Nations Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development or Earth Summit Rio de Janeiro (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1997), World Summit on Sustainable Development Johannesburg (2002), United Nations Climate Change Conference Paris (2015), etc. In this context, many thoughts and questions arise, such as; ‘what is the relationship between world politics and environment, How has the environmental crisis affected the global community, What efforts have been made towards environmental protection at the global level and what have been their achievements, What suggestions and recommendations can be made to solve environmental problems?’ An attempt has been made to solve these thoughts and questions in this research paper.