An Enduring Legacy

It has been 20 years since the World Commission on Environment and Development issued its ground-breaking report on sustainable development. Convened by the United Nations in 1983 and chaired by the former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, this independent commission was born of the international community’s frustration with the world’s inability to deal effectively with the vital global issues of the day. These issues included an increase in human misery and poverty as “development” left many behind, and the myriad ways in which economic activity was eroding environmental systems and depleting resources. The commission was given a mandate to formulate “a global agenda for change.” ...