WThe 1997 group of forest fires in Indonesia that lasted well into 1998 were probably among the two or three, if not the largest, forest fires group in the last two centuries of recorded history.
WThe United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Starting in 2005 the conferences have also served as the "Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol" (CMP); also parties to the convention that are not parties to the protocol can participate in protocol-related meetings as observers. From 2011 to 2015 the meetings were used to negotiate the Paris Agreement as part of the Durban platform, which created a general path towards climate action. Any final text of a COP must be agreed by consensus.
WEnviro-Capitalists: Doing Good While Doing Well is a 1997 book written by economists Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal. In this book, Anderson and Leal further developed the concept of free-market environmentalism, which they first described in their 1992 book Free Market Environmentalism. The book argues that privatization of sectors like wildlife conservation, aquatic habitat development and environment-friendly housing is beneficial and environmental protection should be done by private entrepreneurs, not by the federal government. Enviro-Capitalists received the 1997 Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award.
WGlobal Spin: The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism is a book by Professor Sharon Beder. It was first published in 1997 and there have been subsequent updated editions in 2000 and 2002. The book uses many detailed case studies to build up a "bigger picture" of how large corporations attempt to manipulate environmental issues for their own ends. In the first edition most of the material was from the United States, where the corporate environmental impact has been greatest.
WR v Hydro-Québec, [1997] 3 S.C.R. 213 is a leading constitutional decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court held that the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, a law for the purpose of protecting the environment, constituted criminal law and was upheld as valid federal legislation.
WM. C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath was a landmark case in Indian environmental law. In the case, the Supreme Court of India held that the public trust doctrine applied in India.
WThe 1997 Southeast Asian haze was an international air pollution disaster that occurred during the second half of 1997, its after-effects causing widespread atmospheric visibility and health problems within Southeast Asia. Considered the most severe Southeast Asian haze event of all time, the total costs of the 1997 haze are estimated at US$9 billion, due mainly to health care and disruption of air travel and business activities.