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Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is the system of

meeting human development goals while
simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural
systems to provide the natural resources
and ecosystem upon which
the economy and society depend. The desired
result is a state of society where living conditions
and resources are used to continue to meet human
needs without undermining the integrity and
stability of the natural system.

The term sustainable development was coined

recently in 1987 by the Brundtland commission
report. However it is not a new concept. It was
advocated as early as the indian freedom struggle
where The father of our nation said, the world has
enough to meet everyone`s need but not
everyone`s greed.’’

Thus, this project focuses on the need for

sustainable development, major steps taken to
achieve it and the timeline of events.
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The need

The earth is our common planet from where we

obtain our resources. We are dependent on these
resources to ensure healthy survival and
development. But however these resources are
limited and can`t be used till the end of time. Due
to the progress of science, human needs are
growing and the earth can`t be made bigger and
richer to supply our growing needs. But
development should be continued in the long term
to enable our survival. At the same time the future
generations too should get what we got. Hence to
counter this problem we need a system of
judicious use of resources and planning. This
system is called sustainable development.
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Brundtland commission

Formerly known as the World Commission on Environment

and Development (WCED), the mission of the Brundtland
Commission is to unite countries to pursue sustainable
development together. The Chairperson of the
Commission, Gro Harlem Brundtland, was appointed
by United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de
Cuéllar in December 1983. At that time, the UN General
Assembly realized that there was a heavy deterioration of
the human environment and natural resources. To rally
countries to work and pursue sustainable development
together, the UN decided to establish the Brundtland
Commission. Gro Harlem Brundtland was the former Prime
Minister of Norway and was chosen due to her strong
background in the sciences and public health. The
Brundtland Commission officially dissolved in December
1987 after releasing Our Common Future, also known as
the Brundtland Report, in October 1987. The document
popularized (and defined) the term "Sustainable
Development". Our Common Future won the University of
Louisville Grawemeyer Award in 1991.[1] The organization
Center for Our Common Future was started in April 1988
to take the place of the Commission. The Brundtland
Commission's mandate was to:[1]

1. “ Re-examine the critical issues of environment and

development and to formulate innovative, concrete,
and realistic action proposals to deal with them;
2. strengthen international cooperation on environment
and development and to assess and propose new
forms of cooperation that can break out of existing
patterns and influence policies and events in the
direction of needed change; and
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3. raise the level of understanding and commitment to

action on the part of individuals, voluntary
organizations, businesses, institutes, and
governments” (1987: 347). “The Commission focused
its attention in the areas of population, food security,
the loss of species and genetic resources, energy,
industry, and human settlements - realizing that all of
these are connected and cannot be treated in
isolation one from another”
The Brundtland Commission Report recognised that
human resource development in the form of poverty
reduction, gender equity, and wealth redistribution was
crucial to formulating strategies for environmental
conservation, and it also recognised that environmental-
limits to economic growth in industrialised and
industrialising societies existed. The Brundtland Report
claimed that poverty reduces sustainability and
accelerates environmental pressures – creating a need for
the balancing between economy and ecology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission
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Major Global earth summits to achieve sustainable

development

1.Rio de Janeiro earth summit: The United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit,
was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June in 1992. Earth
Summit was created as a response for Member States to cooperate together internationally on
development issues after the Cold War. Due to issues relating to sustainability being too big for
individual member states to handle, Earth Summit was held as a platform for other Member
States to collaborate. It was attended by 117 heads of state. The main documents
agreed upon at the Earth Summit are as follows.

 The Convention on Biological Diversity is a binding treaty requiring

nations to take inventories of their plants and wild animals and
protect their endangered species.
 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), is a binding treaty that requires nations to
reduce their emission of carbon dioxide, methane, and
other “greenhouse” gases thought to be responsible for global
warming. but the treaty stopped short of setting binding targets for
emission reductions
 It also adopted . Agenda 21 outlined global strategies for cleaning up
the environment and encouraging environmentally sound
development. The Statement of Principles on Forests, aimed at
preserving the world’s rapidly vanishing tropical rainforests, is a
nonbinding statement recommending that nations monitor and
assess the impact of development on their forest resources and take
steps to limit the damage done to them.

But however this agreement was hampered due

to the argument of southern under developed
countries`s reluctance to folloe economic
environmental restriction imposed.
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2 Kyoto protocol(1997):
Kyoto Protocol, was held in December 1997 in the city of
Kyoto,Japan.It aimed to reduce the emission of gases that contribute
to global warming. In force since 2005, the protocol called for reducing
the emission of six greenhouse gases in 41 countries plus
the European Union to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels during the
“commitment period” 2008–12. It was widely hailed as the most
significant environmental treaty ever negotiated, though some critics
questioned its effectiveness.

The protocol provided several means for countries to reach their

targets. One approach was to make use of natural processes, called
“sinks,” that remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The
planting of trees, which take up carbon dioxide from the air, would be
an example. Another approach was the international program called
the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which encouraged
developed countries to invest in technology and infrastructure in less-
developed countries, where there were often significant opportunities to
reduce emissions. Under the CDM, the investing country could claim
the effective reduction in emissions as a credit toward meeting its
obligations under the protocol. A third approach was emissions trading,
which allowed participating countries to buy and sell emissions rights
and thereby placed an economic value on greenhouse gas emissions.
Countries that failed to meet their emissions targets would be required
to make up the difference between their targeted and actual emissions,
plus a penalty amount of 30 percent, in the subsequent commitment
period, beginning in 2012; they would also be prevented from engaging
in emissions trading until they were judged to be in compliance with the
protocol.
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3.Paris climate pact

Paris Agreement, in full Paris Agreement Under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, also called Paris Climate
Agreement or COP21, international treaty, named for the city
of Paris, France, in which it was adopted in December 2015, which aimed
to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to global warming. The
Paris Agreement set out to improve upon and replace the Kyoto Protocol,
an earlier international treaty designed to curb the release of greenhouse
gases. It entered into force on November 4, 2016, and has been signed by
197 countries and ratified by 185 as of January 2019.
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1. www.wikipedia.org
2. www.encyclopediabritannica.com
3. www.quora.com
4. un.org
5.
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Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all.

It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social
justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen
governance.

-Ban ki Moon
We have not inherited the world from our forefathers but have
borrowed it from our chidren.

-Dennis Hall

Climate change knows no borders. It will not stop before the Pacific
islands and the whole of the international community here has to
shoulder a responsibility to bring about a sustainable development.
-Angela Merkel

Nevertheless, the concept of sustainable development is now

known - even amongst those who haven't accepted it - and it's
recognized, debated and followed by an increasing number of
businesses.
-Maurice Strong

Global warming will not end by Earth finding a shade under the trees
but under our hands joined together”
― Agona Apell