1999 in the environment

This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1999. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.

Events

• The GEO-2000 is published. It is part of the Global Environment Outlook project.
• The Dioxin Affair, primarily a political crisis, occurred in Belgium during the spring of 1999 due to contamination of feedstock with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It was detected in animal food products, mainly eggs and chickens. ^[1]
• The uninhabited islands of Abanuea and Tebua Tarawa in Kiribati disappear beneath the waves as a result of rising sea levels. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

July

• The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is passed in Australia. It provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and culturally significant places.
• The Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation Measures for Marine Turtles of the Atlantic Coast of Africa comes into force.

December

• The MV Erika sank off the coast of France creating a major oil spill. ^[5]

References

1. "Causes and legacy of the dioxin crisis in Belgium". Centrum Agrarische Geshiedenis. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
2. "Islands disappear under rising seas". BBC. 1999-06-14. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
3. Vidal, John (25 November 2005). "Pacific Atlantis: first climate change refugees". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Two uninhabited Kiribati islands, Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea, disappeared underwater in 1999, according to the South Pacific regional environment programme.
4. Lean, Geoffrey (12 June 1999). "They're going under". The Independent . Ten years on the gloomy predictions are coming true, faster that anyone expected. As we report on page one today, two islands in the Pacific Ocean nation of Kiribati - Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea - have already disappeared beneath the waves.
5. "Total guilty of French oil spill". BBC. Retrieved August 2, 2025.

See also

• Environment portal

• Human impact on the environment
• List of years in the environment