20th year anniversary of Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change: reflections on our journey

Excerpt

When Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change was launched in early 1996 there was interest and momentum to support the outcomes of the 1992 United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The UN framework Conventions on climate change, desertification, forests, and loss of biological diversity were in their formative stages. The Montreal Protocol was developing into an effective governing instrument to cope with ozone depleting substances but there was substantial work to be done. The Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and, the Minamata Convention on Mercury were years into the future. While the human footprint on planet Earth was growing, the term Anthropocene was only beginning to become a part of our working vocabulary. In this context, our new journal aspired to support development and dissemination of mitigation and adaptation strategies as our global society was beginning to seriously assess and cope with the depth and breadth of the environment insults to our biosphere. …