Our Common Future
Book by Brundtland CommissionWikipedia
4
MENTIONS
3
EPISODES
3
PODCASTS
Search complete. 4 mentions across 3 episodes found for "Our Common Future".
Sep 10, 2026
Jonathon PorrittGUEST
And at the heart of sustainable development is this notion that we shouldn't grow or we shouldn't do anything about the economy in a way that trespasses on the rights of future generations, prejudices their opportunity to lead good lives.
Jonathon PorrittGUEST
That's where the whole notion of intergenerational justice in a modern sense was born in the 1987 Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, in the notion of sustainable development.
Jonathon PorrittGUEST
So that's what's driven me, and it just is becoming so sharp now because the injustice is to everybody and every creature on this planet, as Niamh rightly reminds us.
Jonathon PorrittGUEST
But boy, is it going to impact even more cruelly on younger people today.
Tim AtkinHOST
I mean, it's an old term, isn't it? I read something that goes back to the 18th century, forestry management industry.
Tim AtkinHOST
But I think the modern focus and, indeed, definition came out of that Brundtland Commission report, Our Common Future, which was published in 1987.
Tim AtkinHOST
And the definition it framed was that development, sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Tim AtkinHOST
Is that still a good working definition, do you think? I think it's a good
Steven MoeHOST
Mm
Kate MeyerGUEST
... development can, can continue." And so she used the word in there, and then after that, the Brundtland Report, um, also sort of talked about sustainability, formally defining that.
Kate MeyerGUEST
Actually, she might have used it- In terms of timeframe, she was definitely the first person to use it, but whether it was in that report or-
Steven MoeHOST
Yeah
Kate MeyerGUEST
... predated that report.
Kate MeyerGUEST
But the Brundtland Report then defined it as um, sustainable development, as development that can, um, meet the da- the needs of today while considering the needs of future generations.
Steven MoeHOST
Mm-hmm.
Kate MeyerGUEST
I actually really like to go back to the dictionary and look up the word in its, in its true sense, and it means ability to continue in perpetuity.