The Brundtland Report: Sustainability's Birth

Sustainable development is a relatively new concept. It's accepted that it first received international attention in 1987, in the United Nations' Our Common Future: Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development. Better known as the Brundtland Report, it was Gro Harlem Brundtland who was tasked with establishing and chairing the commission.

I wanted to start my first real post about sustainable development by highlighting this report by the Godmother, if you will, of sustainability, for everyone to know what its goal is, how it should be framed, and the action we need to take to create solutions.

1. Definition

Whether it was intended at the time, Brundland's interpretation of sustainable development in 1987 still functions as the most accepted definition of the term. But by defining the term, by putting this complex objective into a single sentence, it has given governments, scientists, and even the world something to work towards. Laid out for everyone to see, it tells us what sustainability is and why we should care.

Sustainable development is the ability to "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." It seems straight forward, simple even. Take what we need, but don't jeopardize the future of humanity by surpassing nature's ability to naturally replenish itself. Food, water, and most man made products are derived from natural sources. But over exploitation of these resources and damage from pollution and climate change all threaten the quantity and quality of these sources. Similarly, our energy is heavily dependent on non renewable resources which all have limit supplies. Fortunately, the technology already exists for us to make significant changes to our consumption patterns, but if these trends continue at the current rate, future generations will be left with a debit that they cannot settle.

2. Actions and Consequences

Brundtland made a clear distinction that the report was not to be limited to only addressing 'environmental issues' because the term would assume that it was only the environment that had some sort of problem which needed fixing. But she clearly states, "the environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs..." This is important because terms like 'environment', 'economics', and 'development' are often relegated to sub categories, giving them limited focus by which solutions can be made. They are in fact heavily interrelated, and every action created by development or society has an equal and opposite reaction to the environment. The 'environment' is where we live, and 'development' is what we all do to improve our situation within that environment. What is crucial to this whole process is ensuring that development occurs at a rate and method by which we can continue to operate in the future. The actions must not become so great, that we are no longer able to deal with the consequences.

3. Call to Arms

If you read the forward by her on page six, the first objective in formulating ''a global agenda for change'' is ''to propose long-term environmental strategies for achieving sustainable development by the year 2000 and beyond''. Although extremely ambitious, the report marks one of the first comprehensive efforts to put sustainable development on the map, and address it as a global issue which requires the need for multilateral solutions. In order to develop real progressive solutions for sustainable development,  Brundtland advocates for a level of motivation and co-operation similar to that of post WW2 which helped to re-establish the international economic system. This 'call to arms' mentality for mobilizing change is still being preached today. Lester R. Brown, a pioneer of global environmentalism warns throughout his book Plan B 4.0, "success depends on moving at wartime speed, restructuring the world energy economy at a pace reminiscent of the restructuring of the U.S. industrial economy in 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbor." Whether its 1987 or 2009, the approach remains the same - for radical change to occur, a globally mobilized effort built on multilateral solutions, cooperation from various institutions and governments, and unified objectives need to be established.

This document is unique in that it address many of the same issues, makes many of the same conclusions, states many of the same facts, and recommends many of the same strategies as those being brought forward today, proving that a lot of work still needs to be done, but the core objective has remained the same. The Brundtland Report should serve as the beginners guide and then some, for anyone wanting to know about sustainable development, the challenges it faces, and the direction it needs to go. You will find many similarities between the themes in this text and those being circulated today by present day political and scientific experts.