Thursday, 12 September 2013

Sustainable Development


What is sustainable development? 

The 1987 report Our Common Future from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) set forth the most widely used definition of the concept: "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (p. 8). The concept of sustainable development can be interpreted in many different ways, but at its core is an approach to development that looks to balance different, and often competing, needs against an awareness of the environmental, social and economic limitations we face as a society. All too often, development is driven by one particular need, without fully considering the wider or future impacts. We are already seeing the damage this kind of approach can cause, from large-scale financial crises caused by irresponsible banking, to changes in global climate resulting from our dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources. The longer we pursue unsustainable development, the more frequent and severe its consequences are likely to become, which is why we need to take action now. 


Sustainable development also known as a dynamic process in which communities anticipate and accommodate the needs of current and future generations in ways that reproduce and balance local social, economic, and ecological systems, and link local actions to global concerns.



source: Google image

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