UN General Assembly
1991

This nightmarish population crisis, coupled with developmental stagnation, has created conditions wherein 2 billion people in the developing world have no access to safe water. And an equal number faces chronic hunger and malnutrition. Per capita food output is declining in about one third of the developing countries, and, if current patterns of deforestation, overgrazing and non-stop cultivation of overused lands continue, some 1.2 billion people in the developing world will be affected by desertification by the turn of the century. The environment is not ours to destroy but to preserve for posterity, whose trustees we all are. The effects of deforestation on the environment are said to be second only to nuclear destruction. The ability of nation States to achieve sustainable development is central to the solution of this crisis. The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development is therefore most welcome, and it is expected that the special circumstances of small island States, including Saint Lucia, will not be overlooked.