From the large hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica to the growing evidence of a greenhouse effect caused by gas emissions, from the destruction of the Brazilian rain forests to the almost commonplace oil spills off of both the East and West Coasts of the United States, one fact is clear. We can no longer ignore what we are doing to the environment. Few publications in recent times have had as much impact on worldwide public and political thinking on this issue as Our Common Future. This report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) has helped to initiate governmental, institutional, industrial, and social policy changes on an unprecedented scale.
A follow-up to Our Common Future, Signs of Hope records the progress since 1987 in the areas addressed by the commission. Written by Linda Starke, the volume includes input from Gro Harlem Bruntland, chairman of WCED, from other members of the Commission, and from key people around the world working towards a sustainable development. Starke explores the initiatives being taken at the global level, by governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), within industry and labor, and by the media. She also examines the unfinished agenda, concentrating on the priorities for change in the nineties and the areas where progress is most lacking. Published in conjunction with the Centre for Our Common Future in Geneva, which monitors the progress of WCED worldwide, Signs of Hope greatly contributes to the international dialogue on these vital issues. Everyone concerned with the global environment and what is being done to salvage it will find this volume invaluable.