In 1992, the evolution of sustainable development thinking was boosted by the contributions of 1,600 scientists from 72 countries – among them 102 Nobel Prize winners –, who began to call more attention to the intrinsic connection of the ‘enviroment- social – economic’ triad to the concept of sustainable development. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development – Rio 92, was held in Rio de Janeiro and elaborated the document ‘World Scientists Warning to Humanity’ which shocked public opinion with the following statement: “Human beings and the Natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about”. According to the scientists it is necessary to create sustainable development indicators capable of orientating decision making processes and contributing to the sustainability of systems integrated to the environment. New Indicators for Sustainability Creating sustainability indicators means elaborating a statistical base in order to measure the effects of social, environmental policies and economic development policies. Education and family values, the people’s culture, respect for nature and sustainable exploitation of its resources are some of the many key aspects of development that the classical development indicators like the GNP totally fail to capture. In the view of many economists7, in addition to financial resources, an indicator needs to include natural wealth and assets, and the social and intellectual capital of the peoples. The GNP for example does not monitor the planet’s environmental degradation or even the living conditions of its populations. In that light, indicators that take into account peoples’ well being are more efficient and helpful to making decisions on the progress of a sustainable society. Chapter 40 of the Agenda 21 also stresses that the indicators usually used to measure economic development do not give any accurate indications about sustainability because the evaluation methods employed are imperfect or inadequately applied. In essence, the indicators of sustainable development should be able
7 Redefi ning Wealth and Progress (1990): New Ways to Measure Economic, Social, and Environmental Change: The Caracas Report on Alternative Development Indicators. Knowledge Systems Inc.
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