Following resolution 38/161 a “Process of preparation of the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond”, in December 1983 the United Nations Secretary-General chose Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland to chair a special, independent commission to develop a formula for a “global agenda for change”. Brundtland and her co-chair chose all other task force members, referred to as the World Commission on Environment and Development. [3] This resolution traces back to the creation of the UNEP in 1972.
Four years later, on December 11, 1987, the Brundtland Commission presented their report, “Our Common Future”, to the 42nd UN World Assembly. This report defined and popularized the term Sustainable Development, and is the precursor to Agenda 21.
In this landmark report it said that: “Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable – to ensure that it meets needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It also called for “a new era of environmentally sound economic development”. [1, 2]