human development

Sustainable development has become the El Dorado of modern times, a vaguely charted dream of everlasting prosperity which inspires discourse rather than deeds. Exploration resumes at the Rio+20 Conference in June when world leaders will be reminded that their domestic difficulties have no lasting remedy unless they are aligned with stewardship of our planetary home and provision for all members of the human family. In the words of UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon: “sustainable development is the imperative of the twenty-first century.”

The concept of sustainable development emerged from anxieties that accompanied the triumphant rise in living standards enjoyed in developed countries during the second half of the 20th century.

Encapsulated in the Club of Rome’s 1972 publication of The Limits to Growth, this unease sprang from two painful realities. It had become clear that the life-sustaining role of the biosphere was at risk from open-ended consumption of natural resources. And yet the urgent cause of environmental protection could not be isolated from the right of poorer countries to develop.




The interconnection of these two issues was thoroughly examined in the 1987 landmark report, Our Common Future, produced by the World Commission on Environment and Development. The Commission's Chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland, wrote in the foreword: “the ‘environment’ is where we all live; and ‘development’ is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."

In championing a new global mission of “sustainable development,” the report grasped the nettle of a definition:

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Political action followed with the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Popularly known as the “Earth Summit”, the Conference approved Agenda 21, an action programme for sustainable development in the 21st century.

World leaders also approved the Rio Declaration, a set of principles to guide future multilateral environmental agreements. These include the “polluter pays” principle, the precautionary principle, the right to development, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities between rich and poor countries.

 Sustainable development is normally assessed by reference to parallel progress in its “three pillars” - economic growth, human development and environmental protection. These can be examined at local, national, regional or global levels.