Selection 39

Towards Sustainable Development

World Commission on Environment and Development

This article talks about how sustainable development must be defined across all nations and implies a concern for social equity between generations. Sustainable development regards meeting the needs of individuals world wide without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. It encourages that we increase productive potential and ensure equal opportunities for everyone. Sustainable development must not endanger the natural systems that support life on earth, but recently human development has become larger in scale and impact and more threatening to our life support systems. It is a process of change in our exploitation of renewable and non-renewable resources, free goods, and developments in investments, technology, and institutions to enhance current and future human needs. Often political jurisdictions and areas of environmental impact do not coincide so we need a common interest from everyone. To do this we can use education, institutional development, and law enforcement. Achieving a common interest is difficult because not all environmental issues have solutions and our access to resources is unequally distributed. The development of technologies is also unequally distributed and third world nations tend to suffer. Risk management is also a factor when dealing with technology and must be taken into account. A final important aspect of sustainable development is the need to integrate economic and ecological considerations in decision making in order to better international relations and promote harmony.