Definition of Sustainable Development

The commonly used definition of sustainable development was put forward by the Brundland Commission (World commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, 1987):

"To meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

This is a very far-reaching principle that admits a wide range of activities to allow residents of the planet - present and future - to live fulfilling lives. Basic to the definition is the concept that needs are met. So present realities of malnutrition, lack of suitable housing, and lack of safe drinking water suggest that significant development is needed for the present generation. The issue of intergenerational responsibility also is raised.

Note that this definition does not denounce the depletion of non-renewable resources. Under this definition it is permissible for the current generation to use up all fossil fuels (a practical impossibility), but, in the process, the current generation would be obligated to find alternate supplies of materials for future generations to meet needs now met by use of fossil fuels.

During the early 1990s the concept of sustainable development was widened to include a social dimension by including preservation or enhancement of opportunities of future generations rather than simply preserving a historically given state of environmental quality or abundance of natural resources. Serageldin suggested that

"sustainability is to leave future generations as many opportunities as, if not more than, we have had ourselves."

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