FROM ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT TO ENVIRONMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT: EVOLUTION OF IDEAS FROM OUR COMMON FUTURE TO GEO-4: SUMMARY

This paper looks back over the last 20 years – at the findings of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) report, Our Common Future, and those of the fourth Global Environment Outlook: environment for development (GEO-4)––and asks whether we heeded Brundtland’s call to action, what we have achieved, and where we go to from here. In comparing the two reports, it considers how environmental ideas have evolved over the last two decades. It does not cover every area or every finding of GEO-4, nor does it attempt to summarize these, instead it focuses on some key issues (at global and regional levels) that resonate with challenges faced in forging sustainable paths to development. The paper is divided into five main sections: 1. Introduction: Looking bac