A - REPORT OF THE WORLD COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

2. In considering agenda item 7, the Council had before it documents UNEP/GC.14/13 and UNEP/GC.14/4/Add.7, Annex. The council had also heard the introductory statement of the Executive director (UNEP/GC.14/4/ADD.8), a summary of which appear in chapter III above.

3. The Prime Minister of Norway, the Hon. Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chairman of the World Commission on Environment and Development, in introducing the Commissions’ report, stressed the imperative need to revive world economic growth so as to arrest the deterioration of the human environment. Development patterns in industrialized and developing countries alike had to change, however, to meeting social, economic and environmental objectives in harmonious ways. Such changes were feasible and had to be pursued with determination. They required wise management of natural resources and the environment to protect the well-being of future generations. Sustainable development also meant that environmental problems must be dealt with at the source in the design and implementation of polices in various sectors of human activity. The commission’s report consequently emphasized the adoption of new concepts and values reflecting the recognition of the interdependence of countries and the interrelationship of environmental, economic and social issues, and called for a renewed political will and a reorientation of policies and programmes t national and international levels. In particular, polices had to respond to the links among poverty, international economic inequalities and environmental degradation.

4. The developing countries would need massive assistance to achieve sustainable development and such assistance had to respond to their environmental needs. The role of the NGOs in helping to bring about informed choices for sustainable development and the significance of awareness-building at all levels of the need for sustainable development and the means of achieving it were extremely important. In conclusion, the Chairman of the Commission expressed appreciation of the assistance the Commission had received from the Intergovernmental Inter-session Preparatory Committee of the Governing Council and UNEP in preparing the report, and outlined the ways in which UNEP’s role should be strengthened to implement relevant recommendations contained in it.

5. Representatives welcomed the Commission’s report and congratulated the Commission and its Chairman on preparing a comprehensive, stimulating and balanced analysis of environmental problems, their interrelationships with social and economic factors and recommendations which addressed the problems at their source. Some expressed appreciation at the manner in which the Commission had conducted its work, which had involved public hearings consultations with the scientific community, Governments and the United Nations system. Representatives also noted the contribution to the Commission’s work made by the Governing Council’s Intergovernmental Inter-sessional Preparatory Committee. They stated that the Commission’s report should help shape global thinking and action for enhanced international co-operation to deal with contemporary world problems in the environmental, economic, social and political fields.

6. It was generally agreed that poverty was a major cause as well as an effect of environmental degradation and that the reduction of poverty was essential to bring about environmental protection and improvement. Many representatives endorsed the Commission’s view that the present international economic situation involving, in particular, heavy external debts and debt-service burdens, unfavourable terms of trade for commodity exports and trade deficits had been causing serious deterioration of the environment in many countries. They expressed appreciation for the Commission’s having placed the environmental problematique in the context of the world economic situation. Several considered that the Commission’s report should help broaden and intensify international co-operation to achieve accelerated and sustainable world development. One representative stated that the interactions between the developing and the developed counties were of critical importance, and reported that his Government had converted its aid loans to the poorest countries into grants. Many expressed agreement with the commission’s view that the issue of rapid population growth had to be addressed seriously, keeping in view the environmental and natural resources situation and emphasizing enhancement of people’s productive potential as well as their long-term well-being. There was development patterns made sustainable while reducing present imbalances, if the world environmental situation was to improve. There was also agreement that ht common responsibility in this regard could emerge only through a change in the values and perceptions of people which, in turn, had to be addressed by intensifying of political will and educational efforts. Some representatives expressed the view that women had a special role to play in bringing abut sustainable development.

7. Endorsing the anticipatory, preventive and integrated approach to dealing with environmental issues reflected in the Commission’s report, several representatives referred to the measures their Governments had taken to implement such an approach. Some also referred in that connection to the work carried out by UNEP, including what had been done in regard to intergovernmental agreements. One said that many environmental problems could be solved only by implementing new technologies and that industrialized countries must provide for way and means to prevent the export of environmentally unsound technologies and products. Several expressed agreement with the Commission’s view that environmental considerations should be integrated into economic decision-making, some reported on the environmental impact assessment procedures established in their countries and one outlined the steps taken in this Government to establish an independent commission for environmental impact assessment to provide assistance to developing coutries.

8. There was agreement with the Commission that development assistance should be responsive to the environmental conditions and objective of the developing countries and some noted how their Governments’ bilateral aid programmes were increasingly taking this consideration into account. One representative said that the Commission’s’ report had provided strong environmentally based arguments for increased resource transfers to the developing countries and several supported the recommendation that environmental protection and sustainable development be made an integral part of the mandates of all relevant United Nations and other international agencies. It was also noted that international environmental co-operation to deal with specific environmental protection and sustainable development be made and integral part of the mandates of all relevant United Nations and other international agencies. It was also noted that international environmental co-operation to deal with specific environmental problems and challenges at regional and global levels had to be intensified in order to achieve the transition towards sustainable development. Several gave instances of such co-operations, which was growing steadily. One representative said that these positive examples should be followed to find a solution to one of the most serious environmental problems in Europe, namely the pollution of the Danube. Hope was expressed that the catalytic role of UNEP would be helpful in this case.

9. Some representatives noted that technology had to be reoriented and that special efforts aimed at risk management should be initiated in order to make progress toward sustainable development and one remarked that the Commission’s proogress towards sustainable development and one remarked that the Commission’s proposal for an independent international programme for risk assessment should be carefully considered. Another said that, considering the potential of low-waste and pollution control technologies to bring about sustainable development, the Commission’s proposals in respect of transfer to technology should have been more far-reaching. In particular, access to pollution control, low-waste and clean technologies had to be increased significantly for countries in need. He announced his country’s intention of proposing, with the support of some others, a drat decision for the consideration of the Governing Council in that field.

10. Several representatives noted that they had not had sufficient time to examine the Commission’s report in detail and that the report was being studied carefully by the relevant agencies of their countries. Some referred to specific parts of the report with which they could not agree. In this connection, one representative mentioned the commission’s strict linkage between decreases in defense spending and increases in development expenditure, automatic funding of the programme of environmental organizations and transfer of technology subject to protection of proprietary rights. He also stated that suggestions contained in the Commission’s report concerning nuclear energy, the Law of the Seas convention, the Antarctic Treaty and the Outer Space Treaty had been prematurely made. Three other representatives observed that the Antarctic Treaty provided an adequate mechanism for international co-operation for environmentally sound management of the Antarctic resources and that an alternative management regime was not needed. Another said that his Government did not agree with the Commission’s views on whaling and nuclear energy. Another observed that he did not consider the transfer to resources the solution to environmental problems in all cases; misguided polices rather than a lack of resources often caused environmental degradations. Some noted that the Commission’s report had insufficiently recognized the role of the free market in bringing about environmental improvement. One noted that it had not adequately recognized the achievements and potential of existing international environmental protection and conservation organizations. Another stated that he considered the Commission’s proposals on outer space unrealistic and that non-miniaturization of outer space should have received attention. Another said that the Commission should have considered the problem of refugees.

12. As regards the follow-up to the Commission’s report, representative agreed that it should be transmitted to the General Assembly along with a Governing Council decision and a draft resolution for its consideration and adoption. Some expressed the view that the report should be debated in detail by the General Assembly and some stated that it should receive wide distribution, especially in the developing counties. Several suggested that the reports recommendations should be made more specific to regional contexts and should be considered at regional conference. One representative informed the Council that his Government planned to host a regional review conference in 1990, in co-operation with the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and UNP. It was also suggested that a “20 years after Stockhom” conference might be held in 1992 to review progress made by the international community towards sustainable development and to chart a future programme of action. One representative felt that such a conference might under consideration in various other international forums. One representative indicated that it was not necessary to create a new United Nations programme to meet that objective. It was also suggested that 1991- 2000 be declared a United Nations Decade for the Environment and that a review conference at which a declaration on new ecological order should be adopted be held at the ended of the decade of Warsae.

13. Several representatives referred to the negative environmental impact of Israeli policies in the occupied territories and to the threats posed to the region by Israel’s nuclear activities, some also referring to the continued plight of the Palestinian refugees and the need for Governments and concerned organizations o to work for its alleviation. The international community should make all possible efforts to facilitate settlement of the conflicts which plagued the Middle East so that peace, a pre-condition of environmental stability in the region, could be restored there.

14. One representative said that the military occupation of Kampuchea and the settlements polices of the occupying forces there were creating several environmental problems in that country. Another representative, in exercise of the right of reply, denied that the situation presented by the previous speaker was an accurate refection of reality.

15. The observer for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) said that IUCN intended to design and promote a new international programme for co-operation among NGOs, scientific bodies and industry groups, which would help provide early warning of impending ecological disaster, and assist in assessing risks. IUN also intended to search for ways to help nations assess the economic costs of environmental neglect and the benefit of integrating environmental concerns into the development process. The IUCN General Assembly had called for a legal instrument on in situ biological diversity similar in spirit and scope to other international conventions reflecting the principles of universal resources. IUCN was also working with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research to prepare a conservation stratify for Antarctica. If had also, together with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and UNEP, begun a new programme on population and sustainable development.

16. The observer for the Nordic Council said that there was correlation’s between the use of resources in developed countries and the depletion of natural resources in developing countries. In all economic planning, more attention should be paid to how to avoid future damaging effects on nature. Trade and cooperation with developing countries should be conducted in such a manner as to ensure that recipients were informed of the environmental effects of production processes and products. Measures to ensure environmentally responsible, sustainable development in those counties should receive priority

17. The observer for OECD drew attention to the recent decision by the OECD Ministerial Council to strengthen that organization’s environmental efforts. He highlighted the need to preserve the resource base needed for sustained global economic development and to prevent more effectively the release of hazardous substances in the environmental. OECD was reviewing way and means of strengthening its co-operation with developing countries. Those efforts were fully in line with the findings presented in the World Commission’s report, whose importance had already been recognized by OECD, which had started studying how the Commission’s recommendations applied to its own various activities.

18. The Governing Council subsequently considered and adopted a decision on the repot of the World Commission on Environment and Development (see annex I, decision 14/14). Comments made at the time ot its adoption are to be found in chapter III above