Sustainable Development

Summary

Sustainable development meets present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs.

Core concept

Understand the system

Sustainable development meets present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs.

Why / how it happens

Causes and context

Sustainable development meets present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs. The governing relationship is: It balances environmental limits, economic viability and social equity across time and space.

Mechanism / process

It balances environmental limits, economic viability and social equity across time and space.

Key facts

• The Brundtland Commission's 1987 report popularized the standard definition.
• The UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 with a 2030 horizon.
• Sustainability includes intergenerational and intragenerational equity.

Important terminology

• intergenerational equity
• carrying capacity
• SDGs
• circular economy
• resilience

Established figures

• The Brundtland Commission's 1987 report popularized the standard definition.
• The UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 with a 2030 horizon.

Named examples / case studies

• Sustainable urban transport can reduce emissions while improving access and public health.

Causes / components

• Key components: intergenerational equity, carrying capacity, SDGs.
• It balances environmental limits, economic viability and social equity across time and space.

Effects / significance

• The UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 with a 2030 horizon.
• Sustainability includes intergenerational and intragenerational equity.
• Application: Sustainable urban transport can reduce emissions while improving access and public health.

Geography connection

Sustainable urban transport can reduce emissions while improving access and public health. This illustrates how sustainable development varies by location, scale or environmental context.

Bangladesh connection

Bangladesh's delta adaptation, renewable energy, food security, urban services and blue-economy choices require balancing development with ecological limits.

BCS preliminary facts

• The Brundtland Commission's 1987 report popularized the standard definition.
• The UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 with a 2030 horizon.
• Sustainability includes intergenerational and intragenerational equity.

BCS written analysis

Build an analytical answer

• Sustainable development meets present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs.
• It balances environmental limits, economic viability and social equity across time and space. Use sustainable urban transport can reduce emissions while improving access and public health. as a named application in a comparative answer.

Common misconceptions

• Sustainable development is broader than environmental conservation.
• A project is not sustainable merely because it is technologically modern.

Quick revision

• Sustainable Development
• The Brundtland Commission's 1987 report popularized the standard definition.
• The UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 with a 2030 horizon.
• intergenerational equity / carrying capacity
• Definition → process → spatial example