Eco-Catastrophe 'as Irreversible as Any Nuclear Holocaust' by 2000
UN Environment Chief: Devastation 'as Irreversible as Any Nuclear Holocaust' by the Year 2000
Opening a 1982 UN conference in Nairobi, Mostafa Tolba said current policies would bring an environmental catastrophe by the turn of the century. The century turned; the catastrophe didn't.
What was said
“...an environmental catastrophe which will witness devastation as complete, as irreversible, as any nuclear holocaust.”
— Mostafa K. Tolba, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (as reported by The New York Times) · said May 10, 1982 · due the turn of the century
The century turned on schedule. The complete, irreversible, holocaust-grade devastation did not.
The Story
Nairobi, May 10, 1982, opening the UN conference marking ten years since Stockholm. The Times reported that Tolba told delegates that if nations 'continued their present policies, they would face by the turn of the century' the catastrophe quoted above.
He urged nations to 'begin now to use the world's resources rationally and fairly.'
Receipts
- U.N. Ecology Parley Opens Amid Gloom - The New York Times (May 11, 1982), via the Internet Archiveaccessed 2026-09-29
- Mostafa Kamal Tolba - Wikipediaaccessed 2026-09-29
As of Oct 9, 2026
since it didn't happen
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