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 Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Kuala Lumpur Singapore HongKong Tokyo Nairobi Dares Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland Madrid andassociatedcompaniesin Berlin Ibadan Oxfordisa trade mark ofOxford University Press © WorldCommissionon EnvironmentandDevelopment 1987 Palais Wilson, 52 ruedes Paquis 1201 Geneva, Switzerland Firstpublished 1987 Allrights reserved. Nopartofthispublication may be reproduced, storedin a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in anyformorby any means, without thepriorpermission in writingofOxford UniversityPress. Within the UK, exceptionsareallowedin respectofanyfairdealingfor the purposeofresearch orprivatestudy, orcriticism or review, aspermitted under the Copyright, DesignsandPatents Act, 1988, orin thecaseof reprographic reproduction in accordancewith the termsofthe licences issuedby the CopyrightLicensingAgency. Enquiriesconcerning reproduction outside these termsandinothercountriesshouldbe sent to the RightsDepartment, Oxford University Press, at theaddressabove Thisbook issoldsubject to thecondition thatitshallnot, by way oftradeorotherivise, belent, re-sold, hiredoutorotherwisecirculated without thepublisher'spriorconsentin anyform ofbindingorcover other than that in which itispublishedandwithoutasimilarcondition including thisconditionbeingimposedon thesubsequentpurchaser 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.