Sustainable Growth And Sustainable Development

Many people think of the big picture - but only that. They dream of a grandiose fantasy where change takes place globally and all at once. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Significant change begins on a local level and can take years of development. However, with continued support, these changes, such as the United Nations's Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, can grow to monumental proportions that are integral to our future survival. Developments in quality of education, gender equality, renewable energy, and climate change reversal all lead to this ideal future that we all aim to achieve - a future that is bright, just, and sparkling.

Sustainable development is defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (IISD, par. 1 ).

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. (Brundtland Report,

Sustainable development is the improvement that addresses the issues of the present without bargaining the capacity of future eras to address their own issues. It consists of two key ideas:

Since 1940, the world population has nearly tripled. With this nearly exponential growth in population came a major growth in economic and financial activity that is increasingly more global and complex (Ayres et al., 2013). To compensate for this growth in population and economic and financial activity, the use of natural resources has risen at a similar rate. Although continuous economic growth is the primary goal of an economy, the finite amount of resources constrained by the capabilities of the ecosphere makes continuous exponential economic and population growth impossible. Currently, resources are being extracted and used at an unsustainable rate. This overuse of resources has led to problems such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and the depletion of the richest reserves of nonrenewable energy resources (Brown et al., 2014). This problem, if left undiscussed by global economic and environmental policymakers, will lead to immense consequences for current and future generations. The key issue hindering this discussion is the debate on the best strategy to retain a viable level of economic growth while managing environmental sustainability. In other words, what development can be executed to solve the current economic and environmental problems without threatening the capabilities of future generations? Although the specifics of this question are disputed, the general consensus is that in order to maintain sustainable economic growth and a supportive environment,

Sustainable development encompasses many various meanings, however the most frequently used definition originates from the Brundtland report (WCED, 1987, p.43) defining it as ‘’a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’’. The Kyoto protocols and European trading systems are seen as mediums to ensure resource management, helping in preserving for future use. However the definition is ever evolving as according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (2004) it didn’t include a time horizon for future generations, provides no manifestation of the part played by the environment as it’s solely economical, and cites to the hazy concept of human needs. Subsequently an array of definitions of sustainable, in its most basic it’s defined as conserving development over time.

The UN has established 17 sustainable development goals (SDG’s) which main aim is to define a global sustainable development priority for 2030. The SDG’s needs a worldwide action in order to get a movement among governments, private institution and civil societies in order to achieve these goals and create a better life with ending poverty and creating a life of dignity and opportunity for all human beings within the planet. The SDG’s include 17 goals and 169 targets which should be achieved by 2030 universally meaning they apply to all countries around the world not just underdeveloped countries as usually people assume these goals include only poor countries. The goals main aim is to provide the basic human rights to everyone such a quality of education and having clean water and sanitation which everyone should have. Also one of the goals is having peace, justice and strong institution.

The Millennium Development Goals are a set of eight goals designed to better human kind across the globe, on a variety of issues. This was signed into action by the United Nations, with a hope of achieving these objectives between the years 2000 to 2015. Although there was certainly measurable improvement in every goal across the board, ultimately, several of the goals were not met, due in large to the goals set having been unrealistic from the start when considering the condition some of the worst of these developing nations were already in (Clemens, 2005). The Sustainable Development Goals are a continuation of these goals, with additional goals, as well as pin pointing some of the issues found throughout the past initiative. Although the Millennium Development Goals have displayed a unified push to bettering the world, it is clear that not enough has been done yet to help some of the most impoverished nations in the world, most notably those of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The goal of sustainable development is a generally agreed upon one, the Brundtland report’s definition is the most commonly cited, that it is of to “meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability to meet those of the future” (Brundtland). However, with the growing international concern of environmental issues it has become more difficult to find consensus on where the focus should be to best make an impact.

According to International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d), “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (para. 1). This notion was created in 1992 by Bruntland Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development.

A statement found in Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, released during the 1987 United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainable development as a "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Authors Wes Harry and Ina Ehnert describe sustainable development in a unique way in their

Sustainable development refers to the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising with the demands of our future generations. The developed nations are taking stringent actions on sustainable development are promoting sustainability in all the areas. The use of fossil fuels and other resources that limited in nature is being reduced and alternative sources of energy are being introduced and are being promoted and practiced on a large scale. The government of many developed and developing nations are helping in attaining sustainability.

Although there are many definitions about what sustainable development (SD) is, the most widely accepted one, is the one stated by the Brundtland Commission in their report ‘Our Common Future’ (also known as the Brundtland Report).

Economic development can be a major thing for the economic growth and improvement of civilization. Also it can be harmful to the environment. Amongst other industrial process which can cause climate change, polluting the air, water and soil, health issues, death of species, and more. For this term paper I will be expanding the issues on the four movies ”Civil action, Glencore, Erin Brockovich,” Inside Job that was dealing with big business and the chemical release harming communities.

This is the type of change in attitudes and beliefs that we would like to