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What are the major sustainable development issues facing us as we head into the next millennium and are we making any progress in addressing them? In this issue we change from our usual format to present a list of what IISD thinks are the 10 hot sustainable development issues. The first thing you will notice is that the issues are not new, but they are still vitally important. Unfortunately, despite occasional victories, progress toward sustainable development has been shaky since 1987 when the Brundtland Commission published Our Common Future, a UN-sponsored report often considered the major treatise on sustainable development. Each of the 10 issues is briefly described from a sustainable development perspective—why it is compelling and why urgent action is needed. The first five articles—Consumption Juggernaut, Bottom-line Production, Megafootprints, Trade Blocks and Risky Existence—summarize the forces that derail sustainable development, the everyday human activities that cause rapid and far-reaching change. The next set of five articles—Biodiversity, Freshwater, Food Systems, Climate Change and Human Health—show how these forces affect both us and the natural world and why urgent responses are essential now. The last two articles—Better Governance and Financing Change—examine solutions that although sweeping in approach can potentially make a big difference. Both, if effectively implemented, could move the sustainable development agenda ahead quickly. Sustainable development issues are complex and inter-related. While effort has been made to digest them into short, pithy articles, it consequently is not possible to give them the comprehensive treatment they deserve. We have, therefore, provided many references and Web site addresses for those who want more detailed information. Please send me any comments. I would like to hear from you. Managing Editor, |
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IISDnet / DI Digest Home / Ten Hot SD Issues for the Millennium © 1999 International Institute for Sustainable Development |
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