In 1983, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) convened by the United

Nations was created to address growing concern about the consequences of the accelerating deterioration
of the human environment and the natural resources. The outcome of the work by the WCED was the
report 'Our Common Future'.
The report was quickly named the Brundtland Report in recognition of the chairman of the WCED, Gro
Harlem Brundtland. The report was published in 1987 and was the first to focus on global sustainability. It
addressed governments, businesses and, above all, people whose welfare should be a key element for
environmental and development policies. It provided a comprehensive overview of the major global
environmental crisis and suggestions on how to solve these problems. The Brundtland report placed
environmental issues firmly on the political agenda with the aim to discuss environment and development
as a single and identical issue.
The report gathered different issues related to environmental problems and launched a comprehensive
gateway to sustainability, which included social, economic, political-institutional and environmental criteria.
The concept of sustainability created by the WCED has since been used and also redeveloped in the
ongoing work with sustainability within different spheres. The Brundtland Report, however, has been
criticised for toning down the social dimension of sustainability by organizations who have worked to
maintain the original holistic idea. Among these are The Wuppertal Institute who further processed the
Brundtland report.
 The Brundtland Report and the concept of sustainability can be seen as an attempt to create awareness of the
disturbing relations between human society and the natural environment, focusing on institutional, economic,
ecological and social aspects. Sustainability is, however, not a clear cut homogeneous concept. It is a complex
concept, which there is in praxis no consensus about, apart from the overall and quite broad principles. Today,
the term is very commonly used but in effect the concept of sustainability is actively re-designed for the specific
purpose at any given time and context. Nevertheless, the birth of the Brundtland report sustainability concept
has influenced environmental laws and planning in a wide range of countries.
The publication of Our Common Future and the work of the World Commission on Environment and
Development laid the groundwork for the convening of the Rio Declaration created at the 1992 Earth Summit,
the adaptation of Agenda 21 and the establishment of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.
 Sustainability efforts
The three main pillars of sustainable development include economic growth, environmental protection, and
social equality. While many people agree that each of these three ideas contribute to the overall idea of
sustainability, it is difficult to find evidence of equal levels of initiatives for the three pillars in countries'
policies worldwide. With the overwhelming number of countries that put economic growth on the forefront
of sustainable development, it is evident that the other two pillars have been suffering, especially with the
overall well being of the environment in a dangerously unhealthy state. The Brundtland Commission has put
forth a conceptual framework that many nations agree with and want to try to make a difference with in
their countries, but it has been difficult to change these concepts about sustainability into concrete actions
and programs. Implementing sustainable development globally is still a challenge, but because of the
Brundtland Commission's efforts, progress has been made. After releasing their report, Our Common Future,
the Brundtland Commission called for an international meeting to take place where more concrete initiatives
and goals could be mapped out. This meeting was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A comprehensive plan of
action, known as Agenda 21, came out of the meeting. Agenda 21 entailed actions to be taken globally,
nationally, and locally in order to make life on Earth more sustainable going into the future.[10]
Economic Growth
Economic Growth is the pillar that most groups focus on when attempting to attain more sustainable efforts
and development. In trying to build their economies, many countries focus their efforts on resource
extraction, which leads to unsustainable efforts for environmental protection as well as economic growth
sustainability. While the Commission was able to help to change the association between economic growth
and resource extraction, the total worldwide consumption of resources is projected to increase in the future.
So much of the natural world has already been converted into human use that the focus cannot simply
remain on economic growth and omit the ever-growing problem of environmental sustainability. Agenda 21
reinforces the importance of finding ways to generate economic growth without hurting the environment.
Through various trade negotiations such as improving access to markets for exports of developing countries,
Agenda 21 looks to increase economic growth sustainability in countries that need it most.[11]
 Environmental Protection[edit]
Environmental Protection has become more important to government and businesses over the last 20 years,
leading to great improvements in the number of people willing to invest in green technologies. For the
second year in a row in 2010, the United States and Europe added more power capacity from renewable
sources such as wind and solar. In 2011 the efforts continue with 45 new wind energy projects beginning in
25 different states.[12] The focus on environmental protection has transpired globally as well, including a
great deal of investment in renewable energy power capacity. Eco-city development occurring around the
world helps to develop and implement water conservation, smart grids with renewable energy sources, LED
street lights and energy efficient building. The consumption gap remains, consisting of the fact that "roughly
80 percent of the natural resources used each year are consumed by about 20 percent of the world's
population". This level is striking and still needs to be addressed now and throughout the future.[13]
Social Equality[edit]
The Social Equality and Equity as pillars of sustainable development focus on the social well-being of people.
The growing gap between incomes of rich and poor is evident throughout the world with the incomes of the
richer households increasing relative to the incomes of middle - or lower-class households.This is attributed
partly to the land distribution patterns in rural areas where majority live from land. Global inequality has
been declining, but the world is still extremely unequal, with the richest 1% of the worlds population
owning 40% of the worlds wealth and the poorest 50% owning around 1%. The Brundtland Commission
made a significant impact trying to link environment and development and thus, go away from the idea of
environmental protection whereby some scholars saw environment as something of its sake. The
Commission has thus reduced the number of people living on less than a dollar a day to just half of what it
used to be, as many can approach the environment and use it.These achievements can also be attributed to
economic growth in Chinaand India.[13]
 AGENDA 21

Social and Economic Dimensions is directed toward combating poverty, especially in developing countries,
changing consumption patterns, promoting health, achieving a more sustainable population, and
sustainable settlement in decision making.
Conservation and Management of Resources for Development includes atmospheric protection,
combating deforestation, protecting fragile environments, conservation of biological diversity
(biodiversity), control of pollution and the management of biotechnology, and radioactive wastes.
Strengthening the Role of Major Groups includes the roles of children and youth, women, NGOs, local
authorities, business and industry, and workers; and strengthening the role of indigenous peoples, their
communities, and farmers.
Means of Implementation includes science, technology transfer, education, international institutions and
financial mechanisms.
 AGENDA 21 in India
Economic aspects in India
International Cooperation
Trade
Changing Consumption Patterns
Financing
Technology
Industry
Transport
Sustainable
Tourism

International Cooperation
 . India is signatory to various regional and international agreements, which provide financial assistance for
development cooperation. The issue of technology transfer from developed to developing countries has
been a recurring theme in all multi-lateral and bilateral negotiations/ discussions and is at the heart of the
North-South divide. At the same time, efforts to develop a mechanism to actually to carry out such a
transfer have met with only moderate success so far. Indian research and development (R&D) efforts, unlike
in the developed countries, has remained largely in the Government domain e.g. the CSIR and University
laboratories. In India, initial steps have been taken through the National Productivity Council established
with GEF assistance and UNEP as the implementing agency. The initiative however, has a limited scope in so
far as it only addresses a small portion of the problem

In the Export-Import Policy of 1992-97 conscious efforts were made to dismantle various protectionist and
regulatory policies and accelerate the countrys transition towards a global economy. The 8th Five Year Plan
(1997-2002) seeks to consolidate the gains of previous policy and further carry forward the process of
liberalization involving further deregulation, simplification of procedure and removal of QRs. Efforts have
been made to mobilize resources from domestic and external sources for development, cooperation in
sustainable development including environment protection.

Decision-Making: Major Groups Involvement All the major groups identified in Agenda 21 are involved in
 The bulk of Indias population is still rural and engaged in agriculture which generates nearly one third of Indias national income.
While economic reforms have been mainly confined to the industrial sector, they have affected agriculture since these reforms
have significantly altered relative prices and protection. A fall in agricultural prices has an undesirable effect on the welfare of the
people who depend upon agriculture. In Indias context globalization in terms of liberalization of agricultural trade can have a
profound impact on the poor. India feels that there remains a need for an alternative agricultural trade agenda that promotes
greater food-self sufficiency and food security in the developing countries rather than promoting global harmonization of
standards in subsidies.
The most adversely affected groups are thus small farmers and small scale industries. These groups are protected by provision
food security, better prices for their products, incentives and other facilities to improve their performance to make them
competitive.
Programmes and Projects
Several activities and programmes involving multilateral financing are ongoing in India which include
Global Environment Facility through the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP: India is the second largest recipient of GEF
funding. The salient feature of the GEF portfolio are: a diverse and varied portfolio comprising projects that are
environmentally, socially and financially sustainable; projects involving a range of issues and approaches to address the
questions of innovation, experimentation, demonstration, cost effectiveness and replicability; projects that are country-
driven, based on national priorities; capacity building, human resources and skills at the community level and into
Government.
The Country cooperation Framework- I Environment Programme through the UNDP: Development Objective: The
thrust areas reflect the national policy and plan statements (i) management of natural resources (ii) capacity building for
decision making (iii) management of development (iv) information, advocacy and participation.
 Montreal protocol: The Protocol sets out a time schedule for freeze and reduction of ODS or controlled
substances. A Multilateral Fund was established by the parties to assist developing countries meet the
control measures as specified in the Protocol. It assists the Government and the industry to design,
implement, monitor and evaluate ODS phase-out projects and programmes in the aerosols/foam/solvent
refrigeration and fire extinguishing sectors, covering large, medium and small scale enterprises. The MOEF is
the national executing agency for the Institutional Strengthening projects for the phase-out of ODSs under
the Montreal Protocol. In Asia, India is number three in receiving funds for CFC phase out programme, next
to China and Malaysia.
Capacity 21 Initiative: There is only one Capacity 21 project in India which is being implemented by the
Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR) through the Ministry of Environment & Forests.
The main objective of the project is to build capacity at various levels of Government, national institutes and
the community at large through NGOs by introducing concepts of environmental economics into their
resource use and planning decisions. Specific interventions of natural resource accounting through practical
applications at policy and field levels include Air quality, Water Quality, Biodiversity and Common Property
Resources. IGIDR have come out with documentation on the above areas.
 LIFE programme of UNDP: The Programme of Action for Sustainable Development Worldwide, Agenda 21,
was adopted by more than 178 governments at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Local
Initiative Facility for Urban Environment (LIFE) was launched by UNDP at this Summit. The main goal of the
programme is to help city dwellers to help themselves, to find local solutions to local problems.
SDNP: The Sustainable Development Network Programme is a UNDP initiative launched globally in 1990 to
make relevant information on sustainable development readily available to decision-makers responsible for
planning sustainable development strategies.
In India there are several ongoing projects which are being implemented through various bilateral
programmes. Some of these include CIDA, IDRC, OECF/Japan, JICA, and other bilateral cooperation
programmes with countries inter -alia including U.K., Norway, Sweden and Germany. The main thrust of
these programmes is on Basic human needs Women in development Support to infrastructure Private sector
development Environment Good governance Developing Eco Friendly goods and technologies
The largest share is for poverty eradication , natural resource protection and capacity building in that order.
The amounts are miniscule compared to the needs of the country.
 Environment Management Capacity Building Project (World Bank) (UNCTAD Project)
Strengthening capacities for trade and environmental policy integration in India and trade environment
investment (UNCTAD)
Strengthening Research and Policy making capacity on trade and environment in development countries
(UNCTAD).