Leading Environmentalist Leaves Papers to Harvard

Environmental scholars at Harvard will soon have access to the personal papers of Maurice Strong, one of the central figures in international environmental politics for the past 30 years. Strong’s papers, recently donated to the University, document crucial events in the evolution of international environmental policy from an ad hoc collection of bilateral agreements to a growing system of global accords such as the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Convention on Biodiversity.

William C. Clark, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development and member of the executive committee of the University Committee on Environment stated that, “a growing community of scholars will find these materials instrumental in their investigations of the past, present, and future of the international environmental movement.”

During his career Strong has served as the secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972), the first executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, and the secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio De Janeiro, 1992). He also served as a member of the World Commission on Environment and Development and the Commission on Global Governance.

The papers will be housed in the Environmental Science and Public Policy Archives of the Harvard College Library. The Archives were established in 1997 to preserve documentary collections describing scientific, political, and cultural aspects of the contemporary environment movement.