Information varies about the emergence of the concept of “sustainability”. Some sources attribute it to the Greek goddess of Earth, Gaia, while others suggest it dates back to the Middle Ages. 

A close counterpart to today's sustainability was put forward as “nachhaltig” (sustainable) in 1713 by the Chairman of Royal Mining Office of the Kingdom of Saxonia, Hanns Carl Von Carlowitz.

The concept of sustainability appears in laws against destruction of forests in Baden, Germany in the late 18th century. The law aimed to maintain wood production and help the forests serve future generations by protecting the supply.

Gordon, Scott, and Schaefer presented the notion of "Maximum Sustainable Yield" in the 1950s to underline the importance of planned and regulated fishing practices to maintain the industrial output.

Rachel Louise Carson's Silent Spring brought the environmental damages of industrialization into the spotlight. 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), appointed by The Club of Rome established in 1968, has prepared "Limits to Growth" report.

UN Conference on the Human Environment was held on June 5, 1972 in Stockholm. The concept of sustainable development was analyzed from the "environment-development relationship" perspective. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was born out of this conference. In memory of the conference, June 5 has been celebrated as World Environment Day.

The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was signed on March 22, 1985.

The UN's Brundtland Report, "Our Common Future," published on March 20, 1987, included the first modern definition of sustainability as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

On September 16, 1987, the Montreal Protocol was agreed on to control the use and production of ozone-depleting substances.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was held on December 6, 1988, with participation of 195 countries. The panel was established to assess current scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information and studies on climate change, and to use the scientific outputs to guide decision makers on how to adapt to and fight against climate change. 

The London Environmental Economics Center (LEEC) published the "Blue Print for a Green Economy" report, also known as the Pearce Report, in September 1989.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its first report.

The UN Conference on Environment and Development organized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between June 3 and 14, 1992 and  the action plan described as "Agenda 21" was proclaimed. Named the world summit, the summit designated sustainability as the common goal of humanity in the 21st century. 

The European Union accepted the Fifth Action Program titled "Towards Sustainability." The program was a breakthrough as the first to recognize local governance as a governmental partner. 

On March 21, 1994, the United Nations' first intergovernmental convention on climate change, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), came into force.

The first Conference of the Parties (the COP Summit) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was held in Berlin, Germany, between March 28 and April 7, 1995. The conference was presided by Angela Merkel, Germany's then Minister of Environment. The COP summit has been held annually ever since then. 

The UN International Conference on Population and Development took place in Cairo, Egypt, between September 5 and 13, 1995, in which the relationship between population and sustainable development was studied at an international level.

The UN Conference on Human Settlements: Habitat II met in Istanbul between June 3 and 14, 1996. The conference focused on sustainability in regards to the relationship between people and settlements. 

The Kyoto Protocol was accepted in the 3rd COP Summit (the Conference of Parties), which took place in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997. The agreement was the first international consensus on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Under the protocol, Industrialized European Countries and some European countries undertook to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 6% to 8% from their 1990 levels between 2008 and 2010. The Protocol entered into force in 2005.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, between August 26 and September 4, 2002. The conference was attended by government, private industry, and non-governmental organizations.

The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on February 16, 2005. 

Turkey became a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol in February 2009. 

The Millenium Development Goals, comprising of eight articles, was announced at the UN Millenium Summit, which took place in New York between September 20 and 22, 2010.

Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) covering the period from 2015 to 2030, were accepted at the UN Conference themed "Changing Our World", which took place in New York from September 25 to September 27, 2015. 

The Paris Climate Agreement was signed at the 21st COP Summit in Paris, which was held between November 30 and December 11, 2015. COP21 was the first ever universal agreement where all countries pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2020.

Turkey signed the agreement at the Paris Agreement Signing Ceremony, which was hosted in New York on April 22, 2016.

The 28th COP meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, introduced the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Our country became a party to the amendment on November 10, 2021.

The Paris Climate Agreement entered into force on November 4, 2016.

The European Union announced the EU Green Deal on December 11, 2019. 

On June 11, 2021, the German federal parliament, Bundestag, passed the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, which affects German companies and their overseas suppliers. 

Our country announced its Green Deal Action Plan on July 16, 2021. 

The Paris Agreement was passed with a Presidential Decree on October 7, 2021, and its transposition into Turkish law has been completed. Aiming to prevent climate change and environmental destruction, one of the most striking goals of the Deal is reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. In this context, the European Union aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 (Fit for 55). 

At the COP27 Summit that took place between November 6 and 18, 2022, Turkey announced that it had increased its 2030 reduction goal from 21 percent to 41 percent in accordance with its National Statement of Commitment. 

The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, holding German companies responsible for monitoring compliance with human and employee rights across their supply chains, entered into force on January 1, 2023.