ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that without an infrastructure of institutionalized connection between scientific study, diplomatic negotiations, and political agency, the concept of development would look very different today. It discusses the economic effect of these measures and concludes that "environmental aims and economic growth objectives are or should be made complementary" and that measures designed to decrease the burden on the environment had "made significant contributions to improvements in welfare in Economic Co-operation and Development communities. However, blaming the concept of "sustainable development" for the absence of sustainability in the real world seems disingenuous, similar to blaming the concept of "love" for the continuation of warfare. The tension between environmental and developmental concerns surfaced powerfully during preparations for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held 1972 in Stockholm, the first large-scale conference dedicated to the environment. As development-related policies, the Action Plan proposed the collection and distribution of information in order to identify environmental problems and spread environmentally friendly technology.
