Sustainable Development

Meaning

The World Commission of Environment and Development in 1987

brought out the concept of Sustainable Development.
Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of present generation
without compromising the needs of future generation.
Definition: Development that meets the needs of the present
generation without compromising the ability of the future
generation to meet their own need.
It permits the future generation to live as well as the present
generation.
It ensures the balance between the interest of the present
generation and future generation is maintained. It involved both
inter generation and intra - generation equity, enabling the
present and the future generation to make best use of their
potential capabilities.
A primary goal of sustainable development is to achieve a
reasonable and equitably distributed level of economic well
being that can be maintained continually for many human
generations.
The concept of sustainable development involves sharing of
development opportunities between generations, present and
future.
Sustainable development is sharing development opportunities
and not the poverty between present and future generation.
Economic development is sustainable if only the stock of overall
capital assets remains constant or rises over time.

Important Factors that determine long run

development opportunities

Natural Capital Stock: Natural resources and environment like

quality of air, water and soil, stock of oil etc.
Physical Capital: plants, machinery, equipment, infrastructure like
power, transport.
Human capital: Education, skills, knowledge and technical
advancement.
Overall capital asset in the sum total of these entire 3 assets. For
sustainable development it is essential that the stock of all these
overall capital asset remains constant or rises overtime.

Constant stock of natural resources and environmental quality

are taken as the necessary condition for achieving sustainable
development. Sustainable Development requires the following
conditions:
o Renewable natural resources are used in such a manner
which does not degrade or diminish their usefulness for
future generation.
o Non Renewable resources are used such that its
availability and accessibility for the future generation is not
unnecessarily reduced. These resources should not be
wasteful and ruthlessly exploited.
Thus sustainable development can be achieved only if there is
minimum depletion of natural resources and environment
degradation.
Thus efforts should be made so as to conserve and improve the
environment.

Need for Sustainable Development

The main reasons for sustainable development are as follows:

o Economic development and overall quality of life depend
on the stock of natural resources and quality of
environment, which is the common heritage for all
generation. All generation should have equal opportunities
using these resources. To use these resources
indiscriminately today means to achieve short term goals
at the cost of the future. Economic growth in future is
bound to be low. There is ethical compulsion for the present
generation to guarantee the future generation
opportunities similar to the ones it has enjoyed.
o Growth may be consuming its foundation by using
resources indiscriminately This shows present generation
that the present generation may have achieved economic
growth without giving a thought to the future
consequences. This is a great concern for the future
generation.
o Depletion of the natural resources and degradation of the
environment should be treated as the cost of the
development. These costs should be deducted from the
national income to know the growth rate in more realistic
terms. Since this was not considered in the past the, past
development have been exaggerated.

o Sustainable development is important for improving the

quality of life of the present generation as well. Sustainable
development ensures that there is sufficient availability of
natural resources for every generation and there is no
environmental degradation. Preventing environment
degradation may affect the goals of development of the
future generation and in turn bring about economic welfare
through development. If the benefits of rising income are
offset by the cost imposed on health and quality of life by
pollution, it cannot be called development.