Комиссия Брундтланд и концепция устойчивого развития

UN commission which sought to promote sustainable development
The Brundtland Commission, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 when Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, the Secretary General of the United Nations, appointed Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, as chairperson of the commission. Brundtland was chosen due to her strong background in the sciences and public health. The Brundtland Commission officially dissolved in 1987 after releasing Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report. The document popularized the term "sustainable development" and won the Grawemeyer Award in 1991. In 1988, the Center for Our Common Future replaced the commission.

The Brundtland Report was intended to respond to the conflict between globalized economic growth and accelerating ecological degradation by redefining "economic development" in terms of "sustainable development". It is credited with crafting the most prevalent definition of sustainability:"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Our Common Future was published by Oxford University Press in 1987. The document was the culmination of a “900 day” international exercise which catalogued, analyzed, and synthesized written submissions and expert testimony from “senior government representatives, scientists and experts, research institutes, industrialists, representatives of non governmental organizations, and the general public” held at public hearings throughout the world. The Brundtland Commission's mandate was to:<blockquote>“[1] re examine the critical issues of environment and development and to formulate innovative, concrete, and realistic action proposals to deal with them; [2] strengthen international cooperation on environment and development and assess and propose new forms of cooperation that can break out of existing patterns and influence policies and events in the direction of needed change; and [3] raise the level of understanding and commitment to action on the part of individuals, voluntary organizations, businesses, institutes, and governments” (1987: 347). Despite this, the issue of sustainable development entered the agenda of international and national institutions, corporations, and cities.

The Brundtland Commission was chaired by former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. Politicians, civil servants, and environmental experts made up the majority of the members. Members of the commission represented 21 different nations (both developed and developing countries are included). Many of the members were important political figures in their home country, such as William Ruckelshaus, former head of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. All members of the commission were appointed by both Brundtland and Khalid. The commission focused on setting up networks to promote environmental stewardship. Most of these networks make connections between governments and non government entities, such as Bill Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, which invites government and business leaders to come together and share ideas on how to encourage sustainable development. The Brundtland Commission has been the most successful in forming international ties between governments and multinational corporations. The international structure and scope of the Brundtland Commission allowed multiple problems (such as deforestation and ozone depletion) to be looked at from a holistic approach.

The three main pillars of sustainable development include economic growth, environmental protection, and social equality. While many people agree that each of these three ideas contribute to the overall idea of sustainability, it is difficult to find evidence of equal levels of initiatives for the three pillars in countries' policies worldwide. With the overwhelming number of countries that put economic growth on the forefront of sustainable development, it is evident that the other two pillars have been suffering, especially with the overall well being of the environment in a dangerously unhealthy state. The Brundtland Commission put forth a conceptual framework that many nations agree with and want to try to make a difference with in their countries, but it has been difficult to change these concepts about sustainability into concrete actions and programs. After the commission released Our Common Future, it called for an international meeting to take place to map out more concrete initiatives and goals, which took place in Rio de Janeiro. A comprehensive plan of action, known as Agenda 21, came out of the meeting, and entailed actions to be taken globally, nationally, and locally to make life on Earth more sustainable going into the future.

Economic growth is the pillar that most groups focus on when attempting to attain more sustainable efforts and development. In trying to build their economies, many countries focus their efforts on resource extraction, which leads to unsustainable efforts for environmental protection and economic growth sustainability. While the commission was able to help to change the association between economic growth and resource extraction, the total worldwide consumption of resources is projected to increase in the future. Agenda 21 reinforces the importance of finding methods to generate economic growth without hurting the environment.

Environmental protection has become more important to government and businesses over the last 20 years, leading to great improvements in the number of people willing to invest in green technologies. For the second consecutive year in 2010, the US and Europe added more power capacity from renewable sources such as the wind and sun. In 2011 the efforts continued with 45 new wind energy projects in 25 different states. The focus on environmental protection transpired globally, including a great deal of investment in renewable energy power capacity. Eco city development occurring around the world helps develop and implement water conservation, smart grids with renewable energy sources, LED street lights, and energy efficient building. The consumption gap remains: "roughly 80 percent of the natural resources used each year are consumed by about 20 percent of the world's population".