The Brundtland Commission was created by the United Nations in 1983 to reflect about ways to save the human environment and natural resources and prevent deterioration of economic and social development . The Brundtland Commission , formally the World Commission on Environment and Development ( WCED ) , known by the name of its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland , was convened by the United Nations in 1983 . The commission was created to address growing concern `` about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development . ''