Discovering History - The Helsinki Final Act
Part II

Page 4

Basket 2  (continued)

Security and Co-operation to Sustainable Development

The  Brundtland Report was adopted by the United Nations as an annex to Resolution A/RES/42/427 on August 4, 1987 (see pdf below for full text of the resolution and annex).    The resolution states, "the report of the special commission should in the first instance be considered by the Governing Council of use as basic material in the preparation, for adoption by the Assembly, of the Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond".

Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development

1. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
   
• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.
   

2. Thus the goals of economic and social development must be defined in terms of sustainability in all countries - developed or developing, market-oriented or centrally planned. Interpretations will vary, but must share certain general features and must flow from a consensus on the basic concept of sustainable development and on a broad strategic framework for achieving it.

3. Development involves a progressive transformation of economy and society. A development path that is sustainable in a physical sense could theoretically be pursued even in a rigid social and political setting. But physical sustainability cannot be secured unless development policies pay attention to such considerations as changes in access to resources and in the distribution of costs and benefits. Even the narrow notion of physical sustainability implies a concern for social equity between generations, a concern that must logically be extended to equity within each generation.

5. Living standards that go beyond the basic minimum are sustainable only if consumption standards everywhere have regard for long-term sustainability. Yet many of us live beyond the world's ecological means, for instance in our patterns of energy use. Perceived needs are socially and culturally determined, and sustainable development requires the promotion of values that encourage consumption standards that are within the bounds of the ecological possible and to which all can reasonably aspire.

6. Meeting essential needs depends in part on achieving full growth potential, and sustainable development clearly requires economic growth in places where such needs are not being met. Elsewhere, it can be consistent with economic growth, provided the content of growth reflects the broad principles of sustainability and non-exploitation of others. But growth by itself is not enough. High levels of productive activity and widespread poverty can coexist, and can endanger the environment. Hence sustainable development requires that societies meet human needs both by increasing productive potential and by ensuring equitable opportunities for all.

In December of 1987, the UN passed Resolution A/RES/42/186, Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond:

Environmental Perspective to the Year 2000 and Beyond

1. SECTORAL ISSUES
   1. Population
   2. Food and agriculture
   3. Energy
   4. Industry
   5. Health and human settlements
   6. International economic relations

    

2. OTHER ISSUES OF GLOBAL CONCERN
   1. Oceans and seas
   2. Outer space
   3. Biological diversity
   4. Security and environment

    

3. INSTRUMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION
   1. Assessment
   2. Planning
   3. Legislation and environmental law
   4. Awareness building and training
   5. Institutions

From the Brundtland Report, it's clear that the idea of 'Sustainable Development' is to manage natural resources to preserve them for future generations, to manage people and their use of resources - and to redistribute wealth from the developed countries to the developing countries ostensibly to preserve the environment.  

Excerpts from the Helsinki Final Act from the section on Environment (pg. 27)

Agree to the following aims of co-operation, in particular:

• to study, with a view to their solution, those environmental problems which, by their nature, are of a multilateral, bilateral, regional or sub-regional dimension; as well as to encourage the development of an interdisciplinary approach to environmental problems;
   

• to increase the effectiveness of national and international measures for the protection of the environment, by the comparison and, if appropriate, the harmonization of methods of gathering and analyzing facts, by improving the knowledge of pollution phenomena and rational utilization of natural resources, by the exchange of information, by the harmonization of definitions and the adoption, as far as possible, of a common terminology in the field of the environment;
   

• to take the necessary measures to bring environmental policies closer together and, where appropriate and possible, to harmonize them;
   

• to encourage, where possible and appropriate, national and international efforts by their interested organizations, enterprises and firms in the development, production and improvement of equipment designed for monitoring, protecting and enhancing the environment.

.....

Forms and methods of co-operation

The linear progression of the Helsinki Final Act to the Global 2000 Report, to the North-South Report and the Brundtland Report which was adopted by the United Nations is pretty clear.  The subsequent reports build on and flesh out the Helsinki Accords that were intended as the means and methods to reunify Germany paving the way for the European Union.   

As a signatory to the Helsinki Accords, the U.S. agreed to be a full participant in the economic redistribution of wealth to developing countries; they agreed to the environmental agenda of the United Nations which is about control of national resources, they agreed to participate in the monitoring of compliance with the agreement - and it logically follows - they must have agreed to be monitored for compliance.  They agreed to a regional and sub-regional governing structures.  The La Paz Agreement with Mexico was an early measure toward the goal of regional "governance" under United Nations agreements.  As such, the implications are that the ultimate goal of U.S. involvement in the Helsinki Accords was the creation of Pan-America which is more commonly known as the North American Union.    This will become even more clear as we continue to examine the history:  

"Latin American Economic System, SELA"

The Helsinki Final Act was signed in August of 1975.  SELA which was established in October of 1975 at the Panama Convention (refer back to the front page re: International Union of American Republics)  and is remarkably similar to the Helsinki Final Act.  

"The Latin American Economic System (SELA) is a regional intergovernmental organization that groups 27 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Its headquarters are in Caracas, Venezuela. SELA was established on 17 October 1975, by the Panama Convention, and currently counts on the membership of the following countries: Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela."

Obviously, they were positioning - getting the ducks lined up for the future merger - North American Union.
 

The Latin American States represented at the Ministerial Meeting convened to establish the Latin American Economic System.

Whereas

There is a need to establish a permanent system of intra-regional economic and social cooperation, of consultation and coordination of the positions of Latin America in international bodies as well as before third countries and groups of countries;

The present dynamics of international relations and socio-economic fields also make it necessary that all initiatives and efforts for coordination among Latin American countries be converted into a permanent system which for the first time will include all States of the region and be responsible for all agreements and principles which up to now have been jointly adopted by all countries of Latin America and which will ensure their implementation through concerted actions;

This cooperation must be realized in the spirit of the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States; and in a manner consistent with the commitments for integration which the majority of Latin American countries have assumed;

"Our Common Future"

Following the adoption of the Brundtland Report, "Our Common Future", the United Nations General Assembly passed a new resolution: A/RES/44/228 which called for a series of conferences to determine the course of action to be taken with consideration for the principles outlined in the report.  The resolution named the date and time by which a world conference would be held to present the recommendations of the conferences.   The date set was World Environment Day in 1992, and the location was Rio de Janiero, Brazil.   This world conference was later dubbed 'The Earth Summit'.  

Excerpt from A/RES/44/228, December 22, 1989:

15.Decides that the Conference, in addressing environmental issues in the developmental context, should have the following objectives:

(b) To identify strategies to be co-ordinated regionally and globally, as appropriate, for concerted action to deal with major environmental issues in the socio-economic development processes of all countries within a particular time-frame;

(c) To recommend measures to be taken at the national and international levels to protect and enhance the environment, taking into account the specific needs of developing countries, through the development and implementation of policies for sustainable and environmentally sound development with special emphasis on incorporating environmental concerns in the economic and social development process and of various sectoral policies and through, inter alia, preventive action at the sources of environmental degradation, clearly identifying the sources of such degradation and appropriate remedial measures, in all countries;

(d) To promote the further development of international environmental law, taking into account the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, as well as the special needs and concerns of the developing countries, and to examine in this context the feasibility of elaborating general rights and obligations of States, as appropriate, in the field of the environment, and taking into account relevant existing international legal instruments;

(k) To identify ways and means of providing additional financial resources for measures directed towards solving major environmental problems of global concern and especially of supporting those countries, in particular developing countries, for which the implementation of such measures would entail a special or abnormal burden, owing, in particular, to their lack of financial resources, expertise or technical capacity;

(o) To recommend measures to Governments and the relevant bodies of the United Nations system, with a view to strengthening technical co-operation with the developing countries to enable them to develop and strengthen their capacity for identifying, analysing, monitoring, managing or preventing environmental problems in accordance with their national development plans, objectives and priorities;

(p) To promote open and timely exchange of information on national environmental policies, situations and accidents;

(q) To review and examine the role of the United Nations system in dealing with the environment and possible ways of improving it;

(r) To promote the development or strengthening of appropriate institutions at the national, regional and global levels to deal with environmental matters in the context of the socio-economic development processes of all countries;

(s) To promote environmental education, especially of the younger generation, as well as other measures to increase awareness of the value of the environment;

Continued          [1]    [2]   [3]  [4]

To be continued.... picking up with the Earth Summit and Earth Charter

Brundtland Report - pdf

[1]  Canadian Club of Rome,  History   http://cacor.ca/history.html

Vicky Davis
March 11, 2008