As Secretary General of the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission), headquartered in Geneva, Dr. MacNeill was the principal architect and major author of its internationally acclaimed report, "Our Common Future", which sets out a new global agenda for sustainable development.

From 1978-84 Dr. MacNeill was Director of Environment for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Earlier, he was Canada's Commissioner General and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the 1976 United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat), held in Vancouver.

Dr. MacNeill is President of MacNeill and Associates in Ottawa, Chairman, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, member of World Bank's Inspection Panel, and a member of several boards, including the Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, Mass; and the Wuppertal Institute on Climate and Energy Policy in Germany.

He is the recipient of numerous honours and honorary degrees and the author of a number of books and publications. He has also been appointed an officer in the Order of Canada, his country's highest honour.