This chapter starts with a historical perspective of the impacts humans are having on the planet and the relationship between geopolitics, socio-economic issues with environmental destruction. This includes an introduction to the concept of ‘planetary boundaries’ which represent tipping points for key environmental criteria, going on to provide a history of the agreements and disagreements that have framed the geopolitics of environmental control following the World War II. This includes the extraordinary breadth of United Nations initiatives such as the sustainable development goals and the various international Conference of the Parties meetings (CoPs). Also explored are the numerous conflicts and divisions that have either caused or been caused by environmental factors and resource exploitation. This chapter also examines the relationships between politics and extreme weather, food production, agriculture, water, waste, biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.