Sustainable development

According to the report titled Our Common Future, published in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable development is understood as development that ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

This term gained greater importance in the creation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. This process was directed by the UN Member States to define a global development framework to follow the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approved in the Millennium Summit in 2000. The MDGs comprised different spheres of development with a strong focus on the fight against poverty and hunger. They represented the first significant global commitment with quantifiable and assessable objectives and goals.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—which was the result of a long participatory process—was adopted on 25 September 2015 by all UN Member States. It entered into force on 1 January 2016. It provides a 15-year time frame to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the 169 respective targets.

The 2030 Agenda focuses on five areas: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. The slogan is ‘leave no one behind’. In this framework, sustainable development implies three interdependent dimensions: environmental, social, and economic.

However, this concept raises various debates. Some sectors argue that the definition is lax because it does not call for intragenerational justice. In other words, it makes no reference to the injustice related to the opulent lifestyles of some communities at the expense of the lack of opportunities of others. Another critique is that it legitimizes the overdevelopment of some regions at the expense of the underdevelopment of others. Also, they question the fact that the term intends to harmonize two words that conflict as it equates development to economic growth. It is, therefore, considered an oxymoron since something that is sustainable should contribute to conserving life on Earth. Another critique is that this term reflects an anthropocentric and instrumental vision.

Sustainable development has been used in Europe for various decades and it has gained ground in Latin America in the past few years.