Sustainable Development

Although the notion of sustainability has been used as early as the 18th century in German forestry, it has mainly gained notoriety in the last decades of the 20th century with the concept of sustainable development, which is widely used by academics and policy makers the world over.

One of the most widespread definitions of sustainable development is the one given by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) Brundtland Report in 1987, which pays special attention to environmental degradation. The term was defined as "development that satisfies the needs of the present generations without compromising the capacity of the future generations to satisfy their own needs". The concept was designed to emphasize the environment's capacity to support a determined use, implying that sustainable activities are those that do not exceed the load capacity of the natural system. However, the concept was not limited to the ecological aspects of development, since social and economic aspects have also to be considered as part of the measures and strategies to halt environmental degradation. Since then, the concept of sustainable development has been popularised and its social, ecological and economic implications highlighted.

The definition of sustainable development from the Brundtland Report (World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) 1987):

"Development that satisfies the needs of the present generations without compromising the capacity of the future generations to satisfy their own needs."

The definition contains two key concepts:

Meeting needs:
this refers to poverty and aims at addressing the needs of people living in poverty and inhuman conditions.

Limitations:
this refers to the world's finite capacity to sustain consumer lifestyles and technological and economic production; and aims at reducing the use of environmental resources and the production of waste and pollution, as well as controlling social organisation (for instance through the birth rate).