What is the Brundtland Report?

The Brundtland Report, also commonly known as Our Common Future, is a publication released by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987. Sponsored by the United Nations, the WCED discussed the causes of environmental degradation and explored the synergy between social equity, environmental problems, economic growth, and development policy solutions.

How is the Brundtland Report Used?

WCED was convened by the UN General Assembly in 1983 in response to the mounting environmental concerns including ozone depletion and global warming. The WCED was, therefore, responsible for coming up with long-term solution that would promote sustainable development in the 21st century. 

The key stakeholders in the commission worked towards identifying ways through which environmental concerns can be translated into greater cooperation between countries to help address issues of development and natural resource use. The Brundtland Report covers several chapters with major topics addressing sustainable development. 

Some of the key topics include the significance of international economy, energy, industry, population and human resource, species and ecosystems, food security, and propose environmental protection principles. Although the addressed topics are critical for the future prosperity, sustainable development is the most cited. 

The report defines the concept of sustainable development as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.

 Significant concepts in the sustainable development definition include the concept of needs and the idea that social organization and technology imposes limits on environmental sustainability. 

The concept of global population growth was also key in the Brundtland Report. The WCED predicted that the population of the world would grow to between 7.7 billion and 14.2 billion people with majority moving to urban areas where they can easily access basic amenities. 

The report also acknowledged the fact that birth rate would decline in industrialized nations which would translate to increased burden on the younger generation. On the other hand, developing nations would witness improved education and health, particularly among women which would help to address demographic and resource challenges resulting from high birth rates. 

Furthermore, the Brundtland Report proposed the need for the UN to adopt a UN Program of Action on Sustainable Development which would help in carrying out the report directives. 

The report acted as a foundation to the 1992 Rio Summit that was held in Rio de Janeiro which led to the establishment of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.