Only one Earth

Author: Barbara Ward, René Dubos, translated and edited by the Translation and Editing Committee of the "Foreign Environmental Pollution Series"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-12-01
Features: "Only One Earth" was commissioned by Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, as an informal report for the conference. Although it was an informal report, it played the role of a keynote report, with many of its viewpoints adopted by the conference and incorporated into the "Declaration on the Human Environment" passed by the conference. Therefore, this book is a highly influential document in the history of the global environmental movement. The two authors, Barbara Ward, an economist, and René Dubos, a biologist, brought their broad knowledge to bear, making them well-suited for the task of writing this book. Moreover, as Mr. Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the conference, stated, they should also be seen as creative organizers of a collaborative endeavor, as the book was completed with the assistance of a communications advisory committee comprising 152 members from 58 countries. The book not only discusses obvious pollution issues but also links pollution problems to population issues, resource issues, the impact of industrial technology, uneven development, and the global challenges of urbanization, exploring environmental issues as a whole. The book consistently integrates environmental and development discussions, and when addressing issues in developing countries, the authors note: "Poverty is the worst form of pollution." Developing countries face the challenge of insufficient funds for development. In this context, "governments of developing countries should also take note of the advancements in pollution control design and technology in developed countries. Through regulations or contracts, they should ensure that all domestic and foreign new investors adopt these effective and cost-efficient technologies after careful planning. In this way, a portion of current industrial growth can bypass the primitive stages of industrialization pollution and incorporate new process equipment into the initial overall design." The book's perspectives on environmental and related issues are formed based on the synthesis and summary of opinions from various experts, giving it broad representativeness.