<<Biblioteca Digital del Portal<<INTERAMER<<Serie Educativa<<Education for a Sustainable Future in the Americas
Colección: INTERAMER
Número: 67
Año: 1999
Autor: Eloísa Trellez Solís and Gustavo Wilches Chaux
Título: Education for a Sustainable Future in the Americas
CHAPTER I
COMMITMENTS TO CHANGE
Since 1972, governments in the hemisphere have assumed numerous commitments
designed to encourage sustainable development. If we argue, however, that efforts
must be made to pursue equitable and sustainable development while maintaining
a harmonious relationship between society and the natural environment, then
we must admit that the achievements related to these commitments are still precarious.
Clearly, for many years, we have dedicated ourselves to reinventing or repeating
things already said or done while disparaging experiences and ignoring the advances
achieved. Although much remains to be accomplished, we should not continue to
assume that we must start from the beginning and rediscover the already discovered,
instead of reinforcing previous achievements and building upon them.
Accordingly, we believe it worthwhile to retrace our steps and identify the
major commitments made since 1972. In that year, the United Nations convened
the first world conference on the Human Environment in order to address the
serious concern arising from the increasingly contradictory relation between
the natural environment and human beings. In this chapter, we therefore examine
the advances achieved since then, many of which the OAS, UNESCO and UNEP have
actively supported, as well as the obstacles encountered. The analysis brings
us to the more recent commitments assumed by governments, which constitute the
framework for initiating the construction of a more sustainable society in the
Americas.