 George W. Bush boycotted the summit and did not attend.Except for a brief appearance by Colin Powell, who hurriedly addressed the closing stages of the conference while his airplane taxied on the runway of Johannesburg International, the US government did not send a delegation, earning Bush praise in a letter from conservative organizations such as Americans for Tax Reform, American Enterprise Institute, and Competitive Enterprise Institute.The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, was first held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 1972, and marked the emergence of international environmental law.