History of sustainability development

The concept of sustainable development formed the basis of the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The summit marked the
first international attempt to draw up action plans and strategies for moving towards a more
sustainable pattern of development. It was attended by over 100 Heads of State and
representatives from 178 national governments. The Summit was also attended by
representatives from a range of other organisations representing civil society. Sustainable
development was the solution to the problems of environmental degradation discussed by the
Brundtland Commission in the 1987 report Our Common Future.

The remit of the Brundtland Report was to investigate the numerous concerns that had been
raised in previous decades, namely, that human activity was having severe and negative
impacts on the planet, and that patterns of growth and development would be unsustainable if
they continued unchecked. Key works that highlighted this thinking included Rachel Carson's
Silent Spring (1962), Garret Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons (1968), the Blueprint for
Survival by the Ecologist magazine (1972) and the Club of Rome's Limits to Growth report
(1972).

The concept of sustainable development received its first major international recognition in
1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. The term was not
referred to explicitly, but nevertheless the international community agreed to the notion - now
fundamental to sustainable development - that both development and the environment,
hitherto addressed as separate issues, could be managed in a mutually beneficial way.

The term was popularised 15 years later in Our Common Future, the report of the World
Commission on Environment and Development, which included what is deemed the 'classic'
definition of sustainable development: "development which meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"

It was not until the Rio Summit, however, that major world leaders recognised sustainable
development as the major challenge it remains today.

More recently, the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg in
2002, attended by 191 national governments, UN agencies, multilateral financial institutions
and other major groups to assess progress since Rio. The Johannesburg Summit delivered
three key outcomes: a political declaration, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, and a
range of partnership initiatives. Key commitments included those on sustainable consumption
and production, water and sanitation, and energy.1

Although the concept of SD has gained popularity and prominence in theory, what tends to be
neglected and downplayed is the history or evolution of the concept. While the evolution
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%20development,more%20sustainable%20pattern%20of%20development.
might seem unimportant to some people, it nonetheless could help predict the future trends
and flaws and, therefore, provide useful guide now and for the future
(Elkington, Citation1999). According to Pigou (Citation1920), historically, SD as a concept,
derives from economics as a discipline. The discussion regarding whether the capacity of the
Earth’s limited natural resources would be able to continually support the existence of the
increasing human population gained prominence with the Malthusian population theory in the
early 1800s (Dixon and Fallon, Citation1989; Coomer, Citation1979). As far back as 1789,
Malthus postulated that human population tended to grow in a geometric progression, while
subsistence could grow in only an arithmetic progression, and for that matter, population
growth was likely to outstrip the capacity of the natural resources to support the needs of the
increasing population (Rostow & Rostow, Citation1978). Therefore, if measures were not
taken to check the rapid population growth rate, exhaustion or depletion of natural resources
would occur, resulting in misery for humans (Eblen & Eblen, Citation1994). However, the
import of this postulation tended to be ignored in the belief that technology could be
developed to cancel such an occurrence. With time, global concerns heightened about the
non-renewability of some natural resources which threatenproduction and long-term
economic growth resulting from environmental degradation and pollution
(Paxton, Citation1993). This re-awakened consciousness about the possibility of occurrence
of Malthus’ postulation and raised questions about whether the path being chattered regarding
development was sustainable (Kates et al., Citation2001).

Similarly, examining whether the paradigm of global economic development was

“sustainable”, Meadows studied the Limits to Growth in 1972, using data on growth of
population, industrial production and pollution (Basiago, Citation1999;
Rostow, Citation1978). Meadows concluded that “since the world is physically finite,
exponential growth of these three key variables would eventually reach the limit”
(Meadows, Citation1972). However, several academicians, researchers and development
practitioners (Dernbach, Citation2003; Paxton, Citation1993) argue that the concept of
sustainable development received its first major international recognition in 1972 at the UN
Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. According to Daly
(Citation1992) and Basiago (Citation1996), although the term was not referred to explicitly,
the international community agreed to the notion—now fundamental to sustainable
development—that both development and the environment hitherto addressed as separate
issues, could be managed in a mutually beneficial way. Following these developments, the
World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland of
Norway, renewed the call for SD, culminating in the development of the Brundtland Report
entitled “Our Common Future” in 1987 (Goodland & Daly, Citation1996). As already
mentioned, the report defined SD as development that meets the needs of current generation
without compromising the ability of future generation to meets their own needs. Central to
the Brundtland Commission Report were two key issues: the concept of needs, in particular
the essential needs of the world’s poor (to which overriding priority should be given); and the
idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organisation on the
environment’s ability to meet present and future needs (Kates et al., Citation2001).

Jain and Islam (Citation2015) intimate that the Brundtland report engendered the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), known as the Rio Earth
Summit, in 1992. The recommendations of the report formed the primary topics of debate at
the UNCED. The UNCED had several key outcomes for SD articulated in the conference
outcome document, namely Agenda 21 (Worster, Citation1993). It stated that SD should
become a priority item on the agenda of the international community” and proceeded to
recommend that national strategies be designed anddeveloped to address economic, social
and environmental aspects of sustainable development (Allen, Metternicht, &
Wiedmann, Citation2018). In 2002 the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD),
known as Rio+10, was held in Johannesburg to review progress in implementing the
outcomes from the Rio Earth Summit. WSSD developed a plan of implementation for the
actions set out in Agenda 21, known as the Johannesburg Plan, and also launched a number
of multi-stakeholder partnerships for SD (Mitcham, Citation1995).

In 2012, 20 years after the first Rio Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (UNCSD) or Rio+ 20 was held. The conference focused on two
themes in the context of sustainable development: green economy and an institutional
framework (Allen et al., Citation2018). A reaffirmed commitment to SD was key to the
conference outcome document, ‘”The Future We Want” to such an extent that the phrase
“sustainable development” appears 238 times within the 49 pages (UNSD, Citation2018a).
Outcomes of Rio +20 included a process for developing new SDGs, to take effect from 2015
and to encourage focused action on SD in all sectors of global development agenda (Weitz,
Carlsen, Nilsson, & Skånberg, Citation2017). Thus, in 2012, SD was identified as one of the
five key priorities by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in the UN
action agenda, highlighting the key role SD should play in international and national
development policies, programmes and agenda2

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Sustainability can be defined as the practice of maintaining processes of productivity
indefinitely—natural or human made—by replacing resources used with resources of equal or
greater value without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems. Sustainable
development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the
social, political, and economic challenges faced by humanity. Sustainability science is the
study of the concepts of sustainable development and environmental science. There is an
additional focus on the present generations' responsibility to regenerate, maintain and
improve planetary resources for use by future generations.

Sustainable development has its roots in ideas about sustainable forest management which

were developed in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In response to a
growing awareness of the depletion of timber resources in England, John Evelyn argued that
"sowing and planting of trees had to be regarded as a national duty of every landowner, in
order to stop the destructive over-exploitation of natural resources" in his 1662 essay Sylva.
In 1713 Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a senior mining administrator in the service of Elector
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony published Sylvicultura oeconomica, a 400-page work on
forestry. Building upon the ideas of Evelyn and French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, von
Carlowitz developed the concept of managing forests for sustained yield. His work
influenced others, including Alexander von Humboldt and Georg Ludwig Hartig, eventually
leading to the development of a science of forestry. This in turn influenced people like
Gifford Pinchot, first head of the US Forest Service, whose approach to forest management
was driven by the idea of wise use of resources, and Aldo Leopold whose land ethic was
influential in the development of the environmental movement in the 1960s.

Following the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962, the developing
environmental movement drew attention to the relationship between economic growth and
development and environmental degradation. Kenneth E. Boulding in his influential 1966
essay The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth identified the need for the economic
system to fit itself to the ecological system with its limited pools of resources. One of the first
uses of the term sustainable in the contemporary sense was by the Club of Rome in 1972 in
its classic report on the Limits to Growth, written by a group of scientists led by Dennis and
Donella Meadows of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Describing the desirable
"state of global equilibrium", the authors wrote: "We are searching for a model output that
represents a world system that is sustainable without sudden and uncontrolled collapse and
capable of satisfying the basic material requirements of all of its people."

Following the Club of Rome report, an MIT research group prepared ten days of hearings on
“Growth and Its Implication for the Future” (Roundtable Press, 1973) for the US Congress,
the first hearings ever held on sustainable development. William Flynn Martin, David
Dodson Gray, and Elizabeth Gray prepared the hearings under the Chairmanship of
Congressman John Dingell. In 1980 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
published a world conservation strategy that included one of the first references to sustainable
development as a global priority and introduced the term "sustainable development". Two
years later, the United Nations World Charter for Nature raised five principles of
conservation by which human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged.In 1987 the
United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development released the report
Our Common Future, commonly called the Brundtland Report. The report included what is
now one of the most widely recognised definitions of sustainable development3
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The term ‘sustainable development’ was developed in 1972 at the UN Conference on the
Human Environment. The Brundtland Report called “Our Common Future” was written in
1987. There have been multiple forums and conferences since the report was published, to
check in on world progress working toward sustainability through sustainable development
approaches.
In 2015, the United Nations adopted a plan of sustainable development with a set of
guidelines, working toward making our planet more sustainable for future generations,
allowing for economic growth and economic development while at the same time prioritizing
environmental protection. This plan is known as the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). It follows the principles of sustainability, understanding the important
intersections between society and quality of life, social and economic needs, the economic
system, and the dangers of environmental degradation that result from our current
exploitation of natural resources.
However, the concept of sustainable development has been, and is still, subject to criticism.
Modern economies are still trying to reconcile ambitious economic development and
obligations of preserving natural resources and ecosystems for future generations. The
desired result of sustainable development is a state of society where living conditions and
resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity of the
natural system.4

Principles of sustainability

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Inter-generational equity

This principle states that every human generation has the right to benefit from resources of
past generations and the responsibility to preserve them for future generations. This principle
focuses on the conservation of biodiversity and renewable resources. This sustainable
development principle has originated from the 1st and 2nd principles of the Stockholm
Declaration, 1972 wherein the environment is the resource basis for the survival of the
present generation.

The precautionary principle 

As per this principle, decision-makers must adopt preventive measures when they get hold of
scientific evidence about human or environmental hazards. While the principle suggests
taking preventive measures even in the absence of scientific proof of this danger, it is applied
in parts after assessing the accuracy of the evidence. As per the Principle 15 of Rio
Declaration, 1992:

whenever there is a threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage, a lack of full

scientific certainty should not be considered a reason to postpone precautionary measures to
prevent environmental degradation.  

Use and conservation of natural resources

This principle has been accepted and adopted in the form of Principles 8 and 23 of Rio Earth
Summit Declaration 1992. According to this sustainable development principle, natural
resources must be used, keeping in mind the need to conserve them for future generations.
These resources are depleting quickly due to overpopulation, urbanization, and
industrialization. 

Due to this exhaustion of resources, it is important to find alternative technologies, such

as renewable energy, to conserve them for long-term use. This principle is founded on the
theory that the present generation must remain modest with the use of natural resources to
secure them for future generations. 

Environmental protection

To ensure sustainable development in the most effective manner, it is important to protect our
environment. Countries must enforce laws so that natural resources can be utilized for the
long term without any harm to the environment. For its protection, countries must regulate
the laws for agriculture, industries, energy, and power since these sectors directly impact our
environment. In India, the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986 is in effect to prevent the
environment. Along with this, there are anti-pollution laws in the country.

Principle of liability to help and cooperate

This principle for sustainable development has been incorporated in Rio Declaration (1992)
as Principle 9. According to this principle, states must cooperate to strengthen the indigenous
capacity for sustainable development by improving scientific understanding. To improve
scientific understanding, it is important to exchange scientific and technical knowledge. 

It is also important to enhance the development and adaption of existing as well as innovative
yet useful technologies. As per the Principle 10 of Rio Declaration, the active participation of
all concerned citizens in a relevant manner is equally important. This cooperation is
important to promote economic growth and sustainable development in every country.
Principle 27 suggests cooperation and partnership from both state and people for the
development of international laws for sustainable development.

Poverty Eradication

Another crucial factor for practicing sustainable development is the eradication of poverty.
According to the late former Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi, ‘of all pollutants
we face, the worst is poverty’. In 1992, the Earth Summit projected that the elimination of
poverty, especially in developing countries, is necessary to achieve sustainable development.
It is important to adopt poverty alleviation programs to eradicate poverty.

he ‘Polluter Pays’ principle

It is essential to incorporate the principle of ‘Polluter Pays’. This principle of sustainable

development discourages the existence of those subsidiaries that are detrimental for trade. It
is an important principle that ensures the conservation of environment in industrial societies. 

This principle has been accepted by the European Community in its Action Programme on
Environment in Article 130 R (2). As per this principle:

 Preventive action is preferable to remedial action

 Polluter must pay the cost for preventive measures taken to preserve the environment
 Damage to the environment must be rectified at the source
The principle is incorporated as Principle 16 of Rio Declaration of Earth Summit, 1992. It
was also included as the Principle 4 of the Stockholm Declaration in 1972 but gained
declaration in Rio Declaration in 1992.5

As previously mentioned, the principles of sustainable development involve the

intersection of societal sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental
sustainability. The sustainability of society depends on the availability of health,
employment, and quality education. It is necessary to conserve all the living beings in the
world. Population control and management are also essential for sustainable development.
People can play a vital role in the utilization and conservation of the environment. Human
resource contributes to adopting the principles of sustainable development. Public
participation should be increased in every program.

Sustainable development focuses on biodiversity, cultural heritage, and cultural aspects of

people. Its conservation supports the environmental balance. People cannot over-exploit
natural resources to meet their needs for life and sustainability. People must keep the earth
within the carrying capacity of the earth’s resources. The earth has limited resources, and we
must protect them for future generations, which is why adopting sustainable development
practices is vital to the success and longevity of society and human life.

One key principle of sustainable development hinges on the conservation of

the ecosystem and biodiversity, production systems, population control, human resource
management, conservation of progressive culture, and people’s participation. Sustainable
development is built on the principle of participation, which requires positive attitudes of the
people so meaningful progress can be achieved with responsibility.
Education and training can also influence society towards conserving the environment and
appreciating human values as well as acceptable production methods6

1. Intergenerational equity
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 2. Usage and conservation of natural resources
3. Environmental protection
4. Poverty eradication
5. Precautionary Pay Principal
6. Principle of Public Trust doctrine
7. Polluter Pay Principle
8. The Principle of liability to help and cooperate.7

Sustainable development is an approach to a country’s economic development that does not

jeopardize the environment’s quality for future generations.

Following are the five principles of sustainable development: 

1. To conserve the ecosystem or the environment. 

2. To conserve the planet’s biodiversity. 

3. To ensure sustainable development of the society. 

4. To conserve human resources. 

5. Control and management of population.8 

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development/