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- revenue from the use of international commons (from ocean fishing and transportation. from sea-bed mining, from Antarctic resouces, or from parking charges for geostationary communications satellites, for example:
- taxes on international trade (such as a general trade tax: taxes on specific traded commodities, on invisible exports, or on surpluses in balance of trade: or a consumption tax on luxury goods): and
- international financial measures (a link between special drawing eights and development finance, for example, or IMF gold reserves and sales).
120. In is 1980 report. the Brandt Commission called or raising additional funds from more automatic sources such as those cited above. In its follow-up report in 1983. the Brandt Commission strongly urged that these most 'futuristic' of all the Report's proposals not be lost completely from view.[1] Nevertheless. they again sank below the short-term horizon of the international agenda.
121. The Wor1d Commission on Environment and Development was specifically given the mandate by the UN General Assembly to look once again beyond that limited horizon. We have done so and, given the compelling nature, pace, and scope of the different transitions affecting our economic and ecological system as described in this report, we consider that at least some of those proposals for additional and more automatic source of revenue are fast becoming less futuristic and more necessary. This Commission particularly considers that the proposals regarding revenue from the use of international commons and natural resources now warrant and should receive serious consideration by governments and the General Assembly.
III. A CALL FOR ACTION
122. Over the course of this century, the relationship between the human world and the planet that sustains it has undergone a profound change. When the century began, neither human numbers nor technology had the power to radically alter planetary systems. As the century closes, not only do vastly increased human numbers and their activities have that power, but major. unintended changes are occurring in the atmosphere, in soils, waters, among plants and animals, and in [he relationships among all of these. The rate of change is outstripping he ability scientific disciplines and our current capabilities to assess and advise. It is frustrating the attempts of political and economic institutions, which evolved in a different, more fragmented world, to adapt and cope. It deeply worries many people who are seeking ways to place those concerns on the political agendas.
123. We have been careful to base our recommendations on the realities of present institutions, on what can and must be accomplished today. But to keep options open for future generations, the present generation must begin now, and begin together, nationally and internationally
- ↑ Independent Commission on International Development Issues, North-South: A Programme for Survival (London: Pan Books, 1980); Common Criss, North-South: Cooperation for World Recovery (London: Pan Books. 1983).
