Sustainability
What is Sustainable Development?
Sustainable Development has many definitions however the most accepted definition is from Our Common Future which is a report from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). The report was published in 1987 and is know as the Brundtland Report named after the chair of the commission Gro Harlem Brundtland.
The report states that;
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.“
A brief history of sustainable development
Sustainable Development has a somewhat brief history although there are some pertinent occurrences that have contributed to it of which I will mention only a few here, beginning with Rachel Caron’s 1962 book The Silent Spring, although about DDT and its affects on the environment the book is often thought to have instigated the environmental movement. Additionally Paul Urlich’s 1968 book Population Bomb was also contributory to the discourse of the environmental movement . In 1972 the UN Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm and led to the establishment of many key UN environmental agencies including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This same year The Club of Rome a global thinktank published the Limits to Growth a book about population and resource concerns. In 1984 The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development holds the International Conference on Environment and Economics (OECD) which leads to the Our Common Future report. In 1987 Our Common Future report is published and the term sustainable development’s most accepted definition is coined. In 1991 the UN Conference on Environment and Development or the Rio Earth Summit is held in Rio de Janeiro leading to the Agenda 21 and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In 1993 the UN Commission on Sustainable Development meet for the first time. In the year 2000 the UN Millennium Summit is held and the world sees the largest gathering of world leaders, as a result the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are established. In 2002 the World Summit on Sustainable Development is held in Johannesburg and reiterates the need for action on climate change. In 2006 the Stern Report was published highlighting the economic effects of not acting on climate change.
Reference: The information from A brief history of sustainable development is from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/sd_timeline_2007.pdf
