In March of 1972 the world's first green party, the United Tasmania Group, was formed at a public meeting in Hobart, Australia. At about that same time, in Atlantic Canada, 'the Small party' was formed with similar goals. In May 1972, a meeting at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, launched the Values Party, the world's first countrywide green party to contest Parliamentary seats nationally. A year later in 1973, Europe's first green party, the UK's Ecology Party, came into existence.

The first successful Green party was the German Greens , who contended in thir first national election in 1980. The German Greens drew support for their opposition to nuclear power, pollution, and the actions of NATO. In the 1983 federal election , the Greens won 27 seats in the Bundestag. It was this party that first coined the term "Green" ("Grün" in German) and adopted the sunflower symbol. Most importantly, the German Greens adopted the Four Pillars of the Green Party, a statement of the principles of Green politics which has been repeated by Green parties worldwide.

Since the release of the movie "An Inconvenient Truth", there has been a new emphasis on the importance of protecting our environment.  This movement has led to the birth of a new industry:  The eco-friendly industry