Sustainable Development

What is Sustainable Development?
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What is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable Development is, at heart, the simple idea of ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for people in the future. A widely used definition is:

‘development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

The idea of sustainable development has been around for a number of decades.

Although the idea is simple, the work to be done is substantial. It means meeting four goals at the same time:

Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone
Effective protection of the environment
Prudent use of natural resources and
Maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

Sustainable development includes environmental, social and economic goals. It is about protecting, and where possible enhancing, the environment, not just for its own sake but also because a damaged environment will, sooner or later, hold back economic development and lower the quality of life. Sustainable Development is also about trying to satisfy people’s social needs. This includes basic social needs for warm homes and safe streets, as well as other social needs such as giving people the opportunity to achieve their potential through education, participation in society and good health. Sustainable Development is equally about maintaining a robust economy because this is needed to create the wealth to meet these various needs, now and in the future.

Sustainable Development is not about self-sacrifice. Many measures can improve the quality of life such as providing warmer homes, cleaner air, safer streets and healthier communities. Situations where people cannot afford to heat their homes adequately or where they use less water than they need for fear of the cost are not acceptable. Instead, everyone must work together to meet people’s needs in ways, which put less pressure on the environment. Increasing the energy efficiency of homes and reducing leaks from water mains are good examples of better ways to improve people’s quality of life, as are improving access to schools and shops on foot, by bike or public transport.

Sustainable Development is about thinking in different ways and finding new ways to do things. It means considering how to reduce the amount of waste produced rather than just cleaning up power station emissions; or reducing the need to travel by considering where people live and work, rather than just producing less-polluting cars.