Gro
Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian politician, physician, and a global leader in
public health and sustainable development. After working as a doctor in Norway's
public health system, she was appointed as the Norwegian Minister for Environmental
Affairs. In 1981, she became Norway's first female Prime Minister, and served
10 years over 3 separate terms.
Dr.
Brundtland chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development (often
called the Brundtland Commission) in 1983, which produced a report in 1987 that
helped to bring international attention to the importance of sustainable development
as a key to solving global environmental problems. (The report defined sustainable
development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.") This led to the 1992
Earth Summit and the Agenda 21 action program that defines specific steps governments
agreed to take to promote sustainable development.
In
1998, Dr. Brundtland was elected as Director-General of the World Health Organization.
During her five years in this role, she addressed the importance of health and
nutrition as cornerstones for sustainable development, as well as a key for reducing
poverty and violence. The British Financial Times listed Dr. Brundtland
as the 4th most influential European for the last 25 years. In 2007 the new UN
Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon named Dr. Brundtland as a Special Envoy for Climate
Change. That year, Gro Brundtland was also one of the founding members of a new
global group called The Elders, that brings together some of the world's most
influential social leaders to address the planet's most pressing issues.
