Our Common Future

420 Pages·1987·48.15 MB·English

by  World Commission on Environment and Development

THE WORLD COMMISSION
ON ENVIRONMENT
AND DEVELOPMENT
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2010
in
http://www.archive.org/details/ourcommonfutureOOworl
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 (Cote divoire)
Volker Hauff(Federal Republic ofGermany)
Istvan Lang (Hungary)
Ma
Shijun (People's Republic ofChina)
Margarita Marino de Botero (Colombia)
Nagendra Singh (India)
Paulo Nogueira-Neto (Brazil)
Saburo Okita (Japan)
Shridath S. Ramphal (Guyana)
William D. Ruckelshaus (UnitedStates)
Mohamed Sahnoun (Algeria)
Emil Salim (Indonesia)
Bukar Shaib (Nigeria)
Vladimir Sokolov (USSR)
Janez Stanovnik Yugoslavia)
(
Maurice Strong (Canada)
Ex
Officio
Jim MacNeill (Canada)
Common
Our
Future
WORLD COMMISSION ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Oxford New York
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0x2 6dp
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© WorldCommissionon EnvironmentandDevelopment 1987
Palais Wilson, 52 ruedes Paquis
1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Firstpublished 1987
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British Library Cataloguingin Publication Data
Data available
Library ofCongress Catalogingin Publication Data
Ourcommonfuture
''April 1987."
1. Economicdevelopment—Environmentalaspects.
2. Man—Influenceon nature. 3. Environmentalpolicy.
4. Humanecology. L WorldCommissionon Environment
andDevelopment.
HD75.6.097 1987 363.7 87-7853
ISBN0-19-282080-X(pbk.)
15 17 19 20 18 16
Printedin Great Britain by
ClaysLtd.
Bungay, Suffolk
1 8
Contents
Acronym List and Note on Terminology vii
Chairman's Foreword ix
From One Earth to One World: An Overview by the
World Commission on Environment and Development
1
Part Common Concerns
I:
A
Threatened Future 27
1
2 Towards Sustainable Development 43
3 The Role ofthe International Economy 67
Part II: Common Challenges
4 Population and Human Resources 95
5 Food Security: Sustaining the Potential 1 1
6 Species and Ecosystems: Resources for Development 147
7 Energy: Choices for Environment and Development 168
8 Industry: Producing More with Less 206
9 The Urban Challenge 235
Part III: Common Endeavours
10 Managing the Commons 261
Peace, Security, Development, and the Environment 290
1
12 Towards Common Action: Proposals for
Institutional and Legal Change 308
Annexe 1 Summary ofProposed Legal Principles for
Environmental Protection and
Sustainable Development 348
Annexe 2 The Commission and Its Work 352
Throughout this report, edited quotes from some of the many people who spoke at
WCED Pubhc Hearings appear, to illustrate the range of opinions the Commission
wasexposed to during its three yearsofwork. Theydo not necessarily reflect the views
oftheCommission.
11111
List ofTables
Population Size and Per Capita GNP by Groups ofCountries 30
1.
1.2 Distribution ofWorld Consumption, Averages for 1980-82 33
GDP
1.3 Annual Rate ofIncrease of in Developing Countries, 36
1976-85
3. Net Transfer ofResources to Capital-Importing Developing 69
Countries
3.2 The Growing Importance ofTrade 79
4. World Population 1950-85: Key Facts 100
4.2 Current and Projected Population Size and Growth Rates 101
4.3 Health Indicators 103
4.4 Male and Female Enrolment Ratios, by Region, 1960 and 1982 104
5.1 Two Decades ofAgricultural Development 119
7.1 Global Primary Energy Consumption Per Capita, 1984 170
8. Share ofManufacturing Value Added in GDP, by Economic 207
Grouping and Income Group
8.2 Composition ofthe Merchandise Trade ofDeveloping 209
Countries
9. Population Living in Urban Areas, 1950-2000 236
9.2 Examples ofRapid Population Growth in Third World Cities 237
10.1 World Fish Catch in Major Fisheries, 1979-84 267
List of Boxes
2.1 Growth, Redistribution, and Poverty 50-51
3.1 Cotton Produced for Export in the Sahel 68
3.2 Sugar and Sustainable Development 82
3.3 The Role ofTransnational Corporations 85
4.1 The Food/Population Balance 98-99
5.1 Regional Perspectives on Agricultural Development 121-22
5.2 Natural Systems ofNutrient Supply and Pest Control 136
6.1 Some Examples ofSpecies Extinction 149
7.1 Energy Units 169
7.2 Two Indicative Energy Scenarios 171
7.3 The Damage and Control Costs ofAir Pollution 181
9.1 Dominating Cities 238
9.2 Environmental Problems in Third World Cities 240
9.3 Three Ways to Use $20 Million to Improve Conditions 252
in a City of 1 Million
9.4 Misunderstanding Women's Needs in Housing Projects 257
10.1 Antarctica's Unique Treaty Arrangements 281
11.1 Spending on Military Versus Environmental Security 303
Acronym
List
ATS AntarcticTreaty System
CCAMLR
Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living
Resources
CIDIE Committee of International Development Institutions on the
Environment
CMEA
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
DIESA United Nations Department for International Economic and
Social Affairs
ECB United Nations Environment Co-ordination Board
ECE Economic Commission for Europe
EEC European Economic Community
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone
ELC Environment Liaison Centre
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization ofthe United Nations
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GDP
gross domesticproduct
GEMS
Global Environment Monitoring System
GESAMP Group ofExperts on Scientific Aspects ofMarine Pollution
GNP
gross national product
IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
ICRP International Commission on Radiological Protection
ICSU International Council ofScientific Unions
IDA International Development Association
IGBP International Geosphere Biosphere Project (ofICSU)
IIED International Institute for Environment and Development
ILO International Labour Organization
IMF International Monetary Fund
ITU International Telecommunications Union
lUCN International Union for the Conservation ofNature and
Natural Resources
IWC International Whaling Commission
MVA
manufacturing value added
NCS
National Conservation Strategy
VIU
NGO
non-governmental organizations
NICs newly industrialized countries
NUSS Nuclear Safety Standards
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
ODA
official development assistance
PPP Polluter Pays Principle
SCAR Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
TNCs transnational corporations
UNCHS United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT)
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
WHO
Worid Health Organization
WMO
World Meteorological Organization
WRI World Resources Institute
WWF
Worid Wildlife Fund
Note on Terminology
The grouping of countries in the presentation of data is indicated in the
appropriate places. The terms 'industrial countries' and 'developed countries'
UN
generally encompass the categories ofdeveloped market economies and
the socialist countries of Eastern Europe and the USSR. Unless otherwise
UN
indicated, the term 'developing country' refers to the grouping of
developing-country market economies and the socialist countries of Asia.
The term 'Third World', unless the context implies otherwise, generally refers
to the developing-country market economies as defined by the UN.
Unless indicated otherwise, tons are metric (1,000 kilogrammes, or 2.204.6
pounds). Dollars arecurrent U.S. dollarsorU.S. dollarsfortheyearspecified.