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See also: Sustainability
Solar power towers utilize the natural resource of the Sun, and are a renewable energy source. From left: PS10 and PS20 solar towers.
Sustainable development (SD) is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come (sometimes taught as ELF-Environment, Local people, Future). The term was used by the Brundtland Commission which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."[1][2]
Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social challenges facing humanity. As early as the 1970s "sustainability" was employed to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecological support systems."[3] Ecologists have pointed to The Limits to Growth[4], and presented the alternative of a "steady state economy"[5] in order to address environmental concerns.
The field of sustainable development can be conceptually broken into three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and sociopolitical sustainability.
Contents
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1 Definition of Sustainable Development 2 Environmental sustainability 3 Economic Sustainability 4 Three types of capital in sustainable development 4.1 Market failure 4.2 The business case for sustainable development 5 Criticisms 5.1 Consequences 5.2 Vagueness of the term 5.3 Basis 5.4 "De-growth" 5.5 Measurability 6 See also 6.1 Organizations and research 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links
[edit] Definition of Sustainable Development
Scheme of
References: [edit] Definition of Sustainable Development Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts.(2006)[6][7] Deforestation of native rain forest in Rio de Janeiro City for extraction of clay for civil engineering (2009 picture). [edit] Consequences The retreat of Aletsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps (situation in 1979, 1991 and 2002) due to warming.