UN General Assembly
1972

112. These particular asseverations and exhortations are, of course, not new. They stand inscribed in many an international convention for which this Organization itself has been responsible. What is new is that they now stand inscribed as concomitant features of a program for human survival, a program inspired by the desperate understanding that "to defend and improve the human environment for present and future generations has become an imperative goal for mankind" a program that derives from mutual need and demands the reciprocal efforts of all States and peoples. 113. It needs to be appreciated that in the developing world this concept of mutuality is of paramount importance in any assessment of these developments. programs for the preservation of the human environment deriving mainly from abuses of the environment by the developed countries will stand little chance of universal respect, and therefore of success, unless conceived in terms which acknowledge the new dimensions of economic, social and political interdependence.