Our Future — Common, or None at All

Abstract

Environmental security must be part of both national and global security concepts. In the long run, no country can achieve true national security unless the national security of other countries is safeguarded as well. Many conflicts are rooted in environmental degradation and resource scarcities. Responsible, long-term natural resources management is a key to environmental security. Environmental security threats are most often cross-border in nature. Together with other sources of tension, such as poverty, social inequity and ethnic intolerance, they may lead to violent conflicts. This makes it even more important to prevent such threats from arising. Agenda 21 concluded that the major cause of the continued degradation of the global environment is unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. Further, it highlighted the special responsibility of the developed world to take the lead in making changes. Changes in both patterns and volumes of consumption are needed, together with changes in the distribution of consumption. International agreements must be more than expression of good intentions. We need clearly defined commitments, effective monitoring, follow-up systems that hold countries accountable and procedures for settling disputes. We need a stronger UN to devise solutions to global challenges. The UN must become a driving force for sustainable development and global security. Our common future calls for both responses at local, national and regional levels and a return to multilateralism.

This chapter is a revised version of the opening address at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop at Bolkesje, Norway, 12 June 1996.