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SECTION 2:
INTRODUCING SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
‘Humanity has
the ability
to make
development
sustainable –
to ensure that it
meets the needs
of the present
generation,
without
compromising
the ability
of future
generations
to meet their
own needs.’
International recognition that environment degradation was threatening not
simply economic and social well-being, but life on earth, came about in 1972,
when 133 nations gathered for the Stockholm Conference on the Environment
and Development – the first global meeting on the environment. One important
result was the establishment of UNEP, with the mandate to catalyse environmental
protection and improvement across the world.
United Nations created the World Commission on the Environment and Development
(WCED), often referred to as the ‘Brutland Commission’ after its leader, the then
Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brutland. The Commission’s landmark
report Our Common Future was published in 1987. It stated that while global
economies had to meet human needs and aspirations, economic growth had to fit
within the earth’s finite physical limits. It called for ‘a new era of environmentallysound
economic development’ and declared, ‘Humanity has the ability to make
development sustainable – to ensure that it meets the needs of the present
generation, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs’ – hence the introduction and definition of sustainable development.
In 1989, the United Nations began planning a conference on the environment and
development to develop a methodology for sustainable development. Over the
next two years, international negotiations commenced as never before. Thousands
of experts from industry, business, government, non-government organisations,
citizens’ groups and academic disciplines developed policies and action plans.
These discussions culminated in the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED), the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
The Earth Summit was unprecedented, not just because it was the biggest ever
gathering of heads of state, United Nations agencies, industry, non-government
organisations and citizens’ groups, but also because it made it clear that
economic development, social well-being and the environment could not continue
to be considered as three separate areas. Focusing on achieving sustainable
development, the Earth Summit produced:
• THE RIO DECLARATION OF ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
27 principles that define the rights and responsibilities of nations as
they pursue sustainable development;
• AGENDA 21
A Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Development.
Five years later, in 1997 and in compliance with Agenda 21, the UN Conference
on Sustainable Development (commonly referred to as ‘Rio Plus 5’) met to report
on progress in implementing Agenda 21. The conference stressed that added
momentum was needed in working towards sustainable development, especially
in relation to climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification, and deforestation.
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2
2.1 An Outline of Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is an important document. It is the blueprint for worldwide action on
environmental improvement. The original document is 700 pages long and the
outline presented below is based on Agenda for Change, A Plain-Language Version
of Agenda 21 and other Rio Agreements by Michael Keating, published by the
Centre for our Common Future, Geneva.