WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

Sustainable development is a new term that grew out of the conservation/environmental movement of the 1970's. While the conservation/environmental movement asked questions about preserving the Earth's resources, sustainable development includes questions about how human decisions affect the Earth's environment.

At this moment, sustainable development means different things to different people/groups. The most widely held definition is that of the Brundtland Commission Report of 1987 which stated we must " meet the needs fo the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". In other words, when people make decisions about how to use the Earth's resources such as forests , water, minerals, gems, wildlife, etc., they must take into account not only how much of these resources they are using, what processess they used to get these resources., and who has access to these resources. Are enough resources going to be left for your grandchildren to use and will the environment be left as you know it today?