Natural Resources Use Equity - a Basis for Sustainable Development

The main theme of UNCED, 1992 at Rio de Janerio was "sustainable development". The roles and responsibilities of developed and developing countries was very hotly discussed at the conference. It was argued by the developed countries that there lies far greater opportunity in developing countries for environmental protection than in developed countries, because the rate of energy demand and the related threats of environmental degradation are increasing in developing countries at a much faster rate. Developing countries on the other hand have eontendered that cumulative pollution caused by developed countries for their industrial development are already very large. Thus constraining the developing countries at this stage will slow the process of their economic developed unless the developing countries are adequately compensated for by the developed countries. Otherwise the economic disparity will grow. This paper examines the roles and responsibilities of developed and developing countries in this context and suggests that unless "natural resources use equity" is made a basis for determining the roles, the vision for sustainable development will remain a distant dream.