What is sustainable development? Dr.

ALI ABDALRAHMAN The broad concept o sustainable development is o ten attributed to the Brundtland Report !hich states" #$ !e must ensure development meets the needs o the present !ithout compromisin% the abilit& o uture %enerations to meet their needs' and adds" #(ustainable development is not a i)ed state o harmon&* but rather a process o chan%e in !hich the e)ploitation o resources* the direction o investments* the orientation o technolo%ical development and institutional chan%e are made consistent !ith both uture and present needs'. The Report %oes on to sa&" #$ the development process is not eas& or strai%ht or!ard $ and in the inal anal&sis sustainable development must rest on political !ill'. (adl&* political !ill and commitment are o ten o short duration* !ithout the persistence essential to ensure that development %raduall& un olds until precisel& de ined ob+ectives have been realised. As political and administrative leaders chan%e* so do donors, policies and priorities. Writin% in Harper,s Ma%a-ine in .anuar& /001* 2ara+ 3hanna dismisses 4political !ill, as an o)&moron. 2olitical policies chan%e as %overnments and their heads o ministries chan%e. 5or the most part* political !ill and priorities re lect the interest o politicians and those !ho support them. The 6n%lish verb 4to sustain, and its archaic predecessor 4to sustentate, are derived rom Latin verbs 4sustentare, and 4sustinere, !hich are de ined as 4to hold up,* 4to support, or 4to sustain,. It is interestin%* in the conte)t o sustainable development* that a related Latin noun 4sustentatio, is de ined as 4patience,. 4To sustain, and its Latin antecedents are active* transitive verbs* the& re7uire both a sub+ect and an ob+ect" somethin% or someone must act to sustain !hatever is to be sustained. This author has &et to ind the noun 4sustainabilit&, in an& standard dictionar& and a%rees !ith 8harles 3idd o the American Association or the Advancement o (cience !ho !rote" #The roots o the term 4sustainabilit&, are so deepl& embedded in undamentall& di erent concepts $ that a search or a precise de inition seems utile. The e)istence o the !ord is tolerable onl& i each anal&st describes clearl& !hat he or she means b& 4sustainabilit&,.' 9er& e! do so. :3idd ;<</=. In a scholarl& and thou%ht ul publication 3idd considers the literature related to sustainable development to be so voluminous that an& attempted comprehensive revie! and anal&sis !ould be impracticable and the outcome not !orth the e ort. 3idd revie!s successive 4movements, that have prescribed and proposed means to realise sustainable development.

(ustainable" static or d&namic? (ome concepts o sustainable development su%%est a condition comparable to static hibernation* or a state o perpetual motion !ith no increased demand on resources. Durin% the i t& &ears a ter Rudol 8lausius* the mathematical ph&sicist* ormulated in ;>?0 his second la! o thermod&namics* no less than ?00 applications claimin% inventions that promised perpetual motion !ere received b& the British 2atent @ ice. 4(ustainable, can be literall& interpreted as an unchan%in% state or condition* actions taAen to prevent a s&stem or entit& rom collapsin%. Termites have sustained their particular patterns o social or%anisation and habitation or more than one million &ears. The& used evaporative coolin% to control the internal temperature o their habitats thousands o &ears be ore .ames .oule and Lord 3elvin published their classical studies on e)pansion o %ases and e)plained the ph&sical principles o evaporative coolin%. But in most instances development proceeds under conditions that are chan%in%. Whether or not the rate and pattern o developmental chan%e are sustainable depends upon ho! e ectivel& the development process is controlled* ho! !ell it ollo!s a predetermined path. 2lanned sustainable development re7uires that the intended ob+ectives and the criteria b& !hich pro%ress is to be assessed are precisel& stated. All too o ten development is claimed to be sustainable !hen neither ob+ectives nor criteria o assessment are declared* !here there is little evidence that pro%ress is s&stematicall& determined. 4(ustainable development, has come to su%%est an assurance o prudent* conservative practices* o ethical inte%rit& and respectabilit&. But man& claims o sustainable development do not bear close scrutin&. 5urthermore* !hat ma& trul& be sustainable in one location or communit& is rarel& applicable and amenable to all locations and communities. (&stems acceptable and a ordable amon% the a luent are o ten be&ond the resources o poorer people. It is not unusual or people !hose lives are not at risA rom chronic povert& to recommend to poorer nations remedies or !hat are essentiall& the environmental sins o 6uropeans and North Americans. A thou%ht ul publication b& the 8anadian A%ricultural 6conomics and 5arm Mana%ement (ociet& states that the published literature on sustainable development indicates inade7uate investment in human capital* le%al in rastructures* technolo%& and ph&sical capital* and the substantial role such investments pla& in the economic evolution o human societies :8A65M( ;<<0=.
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