By Richman, Barbara T This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Our Common Future, written by the World Commission on Environment and Development.

By DeFries, Ruth S Our Common Future, the 1987 agenda-setting report by the World Commission on Environment and Development, likely graces the bookshelves of most Environment readers.

A failure to address major problems faced by the planet including climate change, extinction of species and unsustainable development could threaten the survival of humanity, a UN report warned yesterday.

During the last two decades of the 20th century the concepts of sustainability, sustainable development, and sustainable livelihoods have been debated, contested, adopted as development goals, and rejected as merely wishful thinking among academics and practitioners from numerous disciplines and nationalities.