UN General Assembly
1974

149. The developing countries are now sovereign States, aware of their rights, of their duties and of their potential and ready at all times to defend their permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. The developed nations achieved their positions through the purchase of raw materials and sources of energy at unjustifiably low prices. 150. The well-being of one third of the world has hitherto been achieved at the expense of the other two thirds: a single industrialized country, with only 6 per cent of the world's population, uses for its own benefit more than half the mineral resources of the world. The emergency situation the world is experiencing calls for concentrated efforts to seek and apply corrective measures urgently and promptly. The need has become obvious for rational management of renewable and non-renewable resources that would take into account the interests of all countries.