In 1971, Strong commissioned a report on the state of the planet, entitled “Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet”
[6] and co-authord by
Barbara Ward and
Rene Dubos. The report summarized the findings of 152 leading experts from 58 countries in preparation for the first UN meeting on the environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. This was the world's first "state of the environment" report.
The Stockholm Conference established the environment as part of an international development agenda. It led to the UN General Assembly in December 1972 of the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with headquarters in
Nairobi,
Kenya, and the election of Strong to head it. UNEP was the first UN agency to be headquartered in the
third world.
[7] As head of UNEP, Strong convened the first international expert group meeting on climate change.
[8]
Maurice Strong was one of the commissioners of the World Commission on Environment and Development, set up as an independent body by the United Nations in 1983.
His role in leading the UN’s famine relief program in Africa was the first in a series of UN advisory assignments, including reform and his appointment as Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Environment and Development—best known as the
Earth Summit.
[9][10]
After the Earth Summit, Strong continued to take a leading role in implementing the results of agreements at the Earth Summit through establishment of the
Earth Council, the
Earth Charter movement, his Chairmanship of the
World Resources Institute, Membership on the Board of the
International Institute for Sustainable Development, the
Stockholm Environment Institute,
The Africa-America Institute, the Institute of Ecology in Indonesia, the Beijer Institute of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and others. Strong was a longtime Foundation Director of the
World Economic Forum, a Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank, a Member of the International Advisory of Toyota Motor Corporation, the Advisory Council for the
Center for International Development of Harvard University, the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the
World Conservation Union (IUCN), the
World Wildlife Fund,
Resources for the Future, and the
Eisenhower Fellowships. His public service activities were carried out on a pro bono basis made possible by his business activities, which included Chairman of the International Advisory Group of
CH2M Hill, Strovest Holdings Inc., Technology Development Inc., Zenon Environmental Inc., and most recently,
Cosmos International, and the China Carbon Corporation.
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