Question

Explain Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainable development.

Answer 1

The Brundtland commission which was formerly known as World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) aims to fulfill the present generation needs without compromising on needs fulfillment for our future generation. With the help of the United Nation, it was officially dissolved in December 1987 and was named after the Gro Harlem Brundtland who was the first chairperson. She was the former prime minister of Norway with huge interest and a strong background in science and public health. The commission released a formal document of 40 chapters named “Our common future” which is also known as Brundtland Report.

In the report, a common and widely discussed topic is “Sustainable development”, which was coined in the “Our common future” report. Sustainable development aims to utilize the resources properly so that the needs of future generations are not compromised in any way. In a process of defining sustainable development, the two key concepts which were outlined was of

• Need
• Idea of limitations

The Brundtland report has different parts which are further categorized into subdivisions –

• Part one: Common concerns – which discusses more on threatened future concepts while outlining the symptoms and causes. This segment of the report has also highlighted new approaches for the environment and related development. A detailed discussion on sustainable development, its concept, equity, and common interest with strategic imperatives are highlighted in this segment of the report.
• Part Two: Common Challenges – this section of the report deals primarily with population and limited resources, how and why food security is critical to consider, energy choices valid for environment and development, what all industries producing more with less concept and challenges of urban lifestyles.
• Part Three: Common Endeavours – managing the balance of life, how to proceed with peace, development, and environment at the same time, to have a common action are listed in the third part of the report.