Sustainable Development

1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The term sustainable development has acquired much popularity among scholars, politicians, public servants, and the
civil population alike after the Brundland Report by the World Commission on the Environment and development,
(WCED) was presented in 1987.
As defined by the Brundland report, " sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Despite being considered unclear by some in terms of definition, sustainable development should be situated in rigid
social and political setting.
WCED outlined critical objectives for environment and development policies following its concept of sustainable
development. These are 1) reviving growth 2) changing the quality of growth. 3) meeting essential needs for jobs, food,
energy, water, and sanitation; 4) ensuring a sustainable level of population5) conserving and enhancing the resource
base; 6) reorienting technology and managing risks and 7) merging environment and economics in decision-making.
Sustainable development goals
Government and scholars have been on their toes and our time in an attempt to attain sustainable development. In this
era of unrelenting challenges in politics, society and particularly the environment (e.g., climate change, waste disposal,
biodiversity, forestry and the like), such stability is undoubtedly sought after by nearly every single nation-state.
Governments have been challenged to come up with ways to develop their communities without exploiting the natural
resources, and to craft policies that help achieve this goal. The welfare of the people must also be in constant
consideration in terms of development.
The United Nations (UN) often cites agenda 21 of 1992, its Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, where the
topic of sustainable development is put forth in discussions.
Agenda 21 advocates education to disseminate information regarding sustainable development Jickling 1994). Since
then, countries all over the world have integrated this action plan of the UN in their perspective governments, such as in
the case of Canada when its Natural Round Table on the environment and the economy (NRTEE) instituted the
Sustainable Development Education Program (SDEP) in the same year that Agenda 21 was established (Jickling 1994)
The United Kingdom's UK Strategy for Sustainable Development crafted in 1994 aimed to raise the awareness of the
people through the integration of environmental policies into all aspects of government, a shared responsibility
between government, local authorities, businesses and non governmental organizations, (Munton & Collins, 1998)
among other provisions in the strategy.
Sustainability may be likened to Stability; however, there are a few key and subtle differences between the two. A
sustainable environment is resilient enough to withstand man-made and natural challenges, and can also recover from
such if needs arise. Sustainability leads to stability; however, stability alone may not necessarily lead to sustainability.
Stable environments are simply resistant to change but somehow lack the element of resiliency that sustainable
environments process because it is far easier for stable environments to become unstable in comparison to the
possibility of sustainable environments becoming unsustainble."
All in all, policies and strategies of governments must be intertwined with environmental concerns in order for
sustainable development to be achieved.
The environment must continuously be at the center of government actions. It is only logical and practical, in a sense,
constantly put into consideration the environment in the decision-making and policy-making processes of a nation-state
since it is where people build livelihoods on, and which suffers when they turn a blind eye in terms of developing by
using ecological sustainability as an underpinning principle of sustainable development, governments can
simultaneously advocate the protection, restoration and preservation of the integrity of the Earth's ecological systems

2. (Ross, 2009). This makes the environments more resilient to challenges and threats and in turn, making civilizations
resilient in the same light.
In the long run, humankind itself will be the one to benefit when environmental and ecological considerations are given
serious and substantial consideration. As such, humankind must take the necessary actions to strive better to attain
sustainable development.
Developing and enacting policies that is suitable environmental concerns at the forefront and practicing decision-making
processes that similarly give importance to the environment are all necessary steps that must be undertaken to achieve
a sustainable environment. Educating individuals about the importance and benefits of having secure, balanced, and
enduring ecosystems will make the implementation of environment-focused policies and plans much easier, and in the
long term, will create a flourishing and stable environment for all.