Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future

Iris Borowy is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Historical Institute, University of Rostock, Germany and a Research Associate at the Centre Alexandre Koyre, CNRS, Paris, France

"Praised as a blueprint for a new era, despised as an "oxymoron", classified as simple ecological modernization, seen as the greenwashing of Keynesian social-democracy, there is no doubt of the historical significance of the notion of Sustainable Development. In this instructive, well researched book, Iris Borowy disentangles the various strands. Highly recommended." – Joan Martínez-Alier, Professor of Economics and Economic History and Deputy Director of ICTA at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. "The Brundtlandt Commission is today often written off as either the dawn of a new era or as a massive failure. Its work is usually reduced to a single phrase – "sustainable development" – which, ironically, had its origins elsewhere. Iris Borowy gives us an eye-opening and very readable story of the commission's aims and achievements and its impact worldwide. Borowy has written a fascinating historical account of the international actors and their convictions, of ideas and interests, and the behind-the-scene struggles and debates that made the Brundtlandt report a landmark in political thought towards a better future." – Christof Mauch, Director, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at LMU Munich and Past President, European Society for Environmental History. "A fascinating book and a rewarding read for all of those interested in the events and ideas leadung up to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the continuing global debate on the defining issues of our time." – from the foreword by Jim MacNeill."God bok med vide perspektiver." – Hans Christian Bugge, Professor emeritus, Institutt for offentlig rett, Universitetet i Oslo, Michael 2014; 11: 45–55."Defining Sustainable Development is an excellent book. It addresses, or at least engages with, a number of the ‘big questions in geography’ as posited by Cutter et al. (2002). It is very important for geographers who are interested in understanding how the earth has been transformed by human action, how those actions relate to international politics, the impacts of theoretical conceptualization of sustainable development and the successes and failures of implementation. It is a book that encapsulates one recent era, while providing valuable lessons for contemporary and future efforts to address the important issues that remain unresolved." – Australian Geographer, Phil Mcmanus, The University of Sydney, Australia.

• Foreword Jim MacNeill 1. Introduction – The Difficult Elements of Sustainable Development Part 1: The Time Before the WCED 2. The Background – Strands Leading up the Brundtland Commission Part 2: The Time of the WCED 3. Establishing the Commission 4. Jakarta 5. Oslo 6. São Paulo 7. Ottawa 8. Harare 9. Moscow 10. Bringing Commission Work to an End Part 3: After the WCED 11. Strands leading away from the Brundtland Commission 12. Conclusions – a Retroactive View on Sustainable Development and its Difficult Elements