Brundtland Report

by United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development

Brundtland Report

A

UNITED
NATIONS

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General Assembly

Distr. GENERAL

A/42/427

4 August 1987

ENGLISH

ORIGINAL: ARABIC/CHINESE/ENGLISH/

FRENCH/RUSSIAN/SPANISH

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Forty-second session

Item 83 (e) of the provisional agenda^[1]

DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION: ENVIRONMENT

Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development

Note by the Secretary-General

1. The General Assembly, in its resolution 38/161 of 19 December 1983, inter alia, welcomed the establishment of a special commission that should make available a report on environment and the global problématique to the year 2000 and beyond, including proposed strategies for sustainable development. The commission later adopted the name World Commission on Environment and Development. In the same resolution, the Assembly decided that, on matters within the mandate and purview of the United Nations Environment Programme, the report of the special commission should in the first instance be considered by the Governing Council of the Programme, for transmission to the Assembly together with its comments, and for use as basic material in the preparation, for adoption by the Assembly, of the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond.

2. At its fourteenth session, held at Nairobi from 8 to 19 June 1987, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme adopted decision 14/14 of 16 June 1987, entitled "Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development" and, inter alia, decided to transmit the Commission's report to the General Assembly together with a draft resolution annexed to the decision for consideration and adoption by the Assembly.

3. The report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, entitled "Our Common Future", is hereby transmitted to the General Assembly. Decision 14/14 of the Governing Council, the proposed draft resolution and the comments of the Governing Council on the report of the Commission can be found an the report of the Governing Council on the work of its fourteenth session.^[2]

Notes

1. A/42/150.
2. 1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-second Session, Supplement No. 25 (A/42/25).

ANNEX

Report of the World Commission on Environment
and Development

"Our Common Future"

Members of the Commission

Chairman: Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway)

Vice Chairman: Mansour Khalid (Sudan)

Susanna Agnelli (Italy)

Saleh A. Al-Athel (Saudi Arabia)

Bernard Chidzero (Zimbabwe)

Lamine Mohammed Fadika (Côte d'Ivoire)

Volker Hauff (Federal Republic of Germany)

Istvan Lung (Hungary)

Ma Shijun (People's Republic of China)

Margarita Marino de Botero (Colombia)

Nagendra Singh (India)

Paulo Nogueira-Neto (Brazil)

Saburo Okita (Japan)

Shridath S. Ramphal (Guyana)

William D. Ruckelshaus (USA)

Mohamed Sahnoun (Algeria)

Emil Salim (Indonesia)

Bukar Shaib (Nigeria)

Vladimir Sokolov (USSR)

Janez Stanovnik (Yugoslavia)

Maurice Strong (Canada)

Ex Officio

Jim MacNeill (Canada)

CONTENTS

Acronym List and Note on Terminology

From One Earth to One World: An overview by the World Commission on Environment and Development

Part I: Common Concerns

1. A Threatened Future

Symptoms and Causes

New Approaches to Environment and Development

2. Towards Sustainable Development

The Concept of Sustainable Development

Equity and the Common Interest

Strategic Imperatives

Conclusion

3. The Role of the International Economy

The International Economy, the Environment and Development

Decline in the 1980s

Enabling Sustainable Development

A Sustainable World Economy

Part II: Common Challenges

4. Population and Human Resources

The Links with Environment and Development

The Population Perspective

A Policy Framework

5. Food Security: Sustaining the Potential Achievements

Achievements

Signs of Crisis

The Challenge

Strategies for Sustainable Food Security

Food for the Future

Chapter 6. Species and Ecosystems: Resources for Development

The Problem, Character and Extent

Extinction Patterns and Trends

Some Causes of Extinction

Economic Values at Stake

New Approach: Anticipate and Prevent

International Action for National Species

Scope for National Action

The Need for Action

Chapter 7. Energy: Choices for Environment and Development

Energy. Economy and Environment

Fossil Fuels: The Continuing Dilemma

Nuclear Energy: Unsolved Problems

Wood Fuels: The Vanishing Resource

Renewable Energy: The Untapped Potential

Energy Efficiency: Maintaining the Momentum

Energy Conservation Measures

Conclusion

Chapter 8. Industry: Producing More with Less

Industrial Growth and its Impact

Sustainable Industrial Development in a Context

Strategies for Sustainable Industrial Development

Chapter 9. The Urban Challenge

The Growth of Cities

The Urban Challenge in Developing Countries

International Cooperation

Part III: Common Endeavours

Chapter 10. Managing the Commons

Oceans: The Balance of Life

Space: A Key to Sustainable Development

Antarctica: Towards Global Cooperation

Chapter 11. Peace, Security, Development, and the Environment

Environmental Stress as a Source of Conflict

Conflict as a Cause of Unsustainable Development

Towards Security and Sustainable Development

Chapter 12. Towards Common Action: Proposals for Institutional and Legal Change

The Challenge for Institutional and Legal Change

Proposals for Institutional and Legal Change

A Call for Action

Annexe 1. Summary of Proposed Legal Principles for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development

Annexe 2. The Commission and Its Work

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Throughout this report, quotes from some of the many people who spoke at WCED public hearings appear in boxes to illustrate the range of opinions the Commission was exposed to during its three years of work. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission.