What is Sustainable Development?
"Even God does not know what sustainable development means."
~Bhagwati, In Defense of Globalization, 2007
Background: Sistak, Wikimedia Commons, 2011
Growth vs. development
Ecological economists and other environmentalists often distinguish growth and development
Political leaders frequently use the two words interchangeably
Background: Openclipart.org, 2013
Growth
Increase in the size of the economy
In economic terms, increase in gross domestic product or gross national income per capita
- Gross domestic product: market value of all goods and services produced inside a country
-
Gross national product: market value of all goods and services produced by a country's nationals, whether internally or abroad
Development
A little more difficult . . .
Implies a qualitative change or an evolution . . .
But toward what?
What do you think "development" means?
What should it mean?
Sustainable development
In principle, economic activity that could be carried out indefinitely into the future
But what kinds of activity might that be?
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs."
~Our Common Future, 1987 , Par. 1
History of Sustainable Development
-
- 1983: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 38/161 establishes World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission)
- 1987: Brundtland Commission issues report on sustainable development, Our Common Future
Our Common Future
What are the two key elements of the concept of sustainable development, as defined by the Brundtland Report?
What is the role of economic growth in the Report?
What does the Report see as the key barriers to sustainable development?
Our Common Future
"Sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation
of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of
technological development; and institutional change are all in harmony
and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and
aspirations."
~ Our Common Future, 1987, par. 15
Our Common Future
How does interdependence/globalization increase the complexity of achieving sustainable development?
What is required to change the "quality of growth?"
How does the Report connection inequality and environmental degradation?
Our Common Future
-
"a political system that secures effective citizen participation in decision making.
-
an economic system that is able to generate surpluses and technical knowledge on a self-reliant and sustained basis
-
a social system that provides for solutions for the tensions arising from disharmonious development.
-
a production system that respects the obligation to preserve the ecological base for development,
-
a technological system that can search continuously for new solutions,
-
an international system that fosters sustainable patterns of trade and finance, and
- an administrative system that is flexible and has the capacity for self-correction"
History of Sustainable Development, Continued
1992: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), Rio de Janiero
- First major international conference on sustainable development
-
Adopted Agenda 21, a 300-page voluntary program for sustainable development that has more or less been superceded
Millennium
Development
Goals
2000: Millennium
Summit - Millennium
Development Goals
Declared
2015: Goals to be
completed
The proportion of the World population living in extreme poverty has been halved since 1990
Background: McIntosh, Wikimedia Commons, 2004
Over 2 billion people have gained access to drinking water, up to 89% of the global population
Background: Wikimedia Commons, 2014
Malaria and Tuberculosis Deaths are down significantly since 1990
Background: Wikimedia Commons, 2007
Greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, fishery depletion, and biodiversity loss are accelerating
Background: Wikimedia Commons, 2008
What are the biggest environmental challenges to meeting the Millennium Development goals?
Background: Bruegel, 1565, Wikimedia Commons
How is the vision of sustainable development different in the MDGs, as compared to the brundtland report ?