"Sustainable development has been defined as" development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs "by the Brundtland Report (named after the Prime Minister of Norway), published in 1987. The process seeks to reconcile the ecological, economic and social development, establishing a kind of 'virtuous' circle between these three pillars.
This concept is at the heart of a new vision of society to remedy the excesses and failures of a development whose boundaries have been strongly denounced by the early 1970s. The effects of industrialization (mass production of waste, pollution, etc.). Then appear and desertification, deforestation, the "hole" in the ozone layer is, a decade later, new sources of anxiety , soon followed by the erosion of biodiversity and global warming.
At the same time, we see that the economic policies of the second half of the twentieth century did little to improve the situation of the poorest. The inequalities are even dug, which raises the issue of growth and development.
Popularized by the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable development has emerged as a buzzword. In France, he acquired an important place, as evidenced by the establishment of a Department of Ecology and Sustainable Development, and the active participation of the President of the Republic at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002.
Sustainable development is now a concern for states, regions and municipalities, it also comes in the strategies of industrial companies and stakeholders in the tertiary sector.
The concept has also become a subject of education, from primary school to high school. The media have seized, publications on the subject are numerous, from economists, urban planners, political scientists, lawyers, planners and geographers.
Sustainable Development, which wants a new way of thinking about the world and to "manage", which attempts to provide answers to concerns about the planet, actually refers to many questions. Nevertheless, despite the political and conceptual vagueness surrounding the concept, despite doubts about the instruments to be adopted for its implementation, difficulty of articulation and definition of the scales relevant to its implementation, despite the multitude actors and the salience of conflicts that characterize their relations, sustainable development has acquired a global dimension which is necessary to underline the interest as contradictions. "
"Sustainable": the word comes today halo of very different actions. "Sustainable development" was installed in the discourse of international organizations, associations, political parties and businesses. But what is it exactly?
These are environmental issues (depletion of raw materials, climate change, biodiversity loss, etc..) Which led in the 1980s, the emergence of the concept of "sustainable development" (or "sustainability" of after the English term "sustainability"). The idea is to link economic development with strong maintenance of ecological balance, so as to avoid irreversible damage to future generations and the depletion of nonrenewable natural resources.
It was during the first Earth Summit, UN Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, that the concerns of sustainable development received a first concrete: affirmation of the principles of precaution, polluter pays, international responsibility, adoption of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, which opens the way for the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and the Convention on Biological Diversity; adoption of Agenda 21.
A new impetus was given to France in the 2000s after the Johannesburg Summit. It leads in particular the adoption of an Environmental Charter, backed by the Constitution in 2005.
A "Grenelle de l'Environnement", launched by the President in the summer of 2007, brought together representatives of state and civil society. This consultation process, conceived as "a starting point for the mobilization of French society to register its development in a sustainable way", has identified an action plan.
Sustainable development is the rational management of human, natural and economic aims to meet the basic needs of humanity. Sustainable development requires several conditions: the conservation of general equilibrium, The respect of the environment, preventing the depletion of natural resources, reducing waste generation and finally the rationalization of production and consumption energy.
In fact, this concept was born of two facts: the North / South divide and the pursuit of human development and ecological crisis accompanied by the urgent need to protect the environment.
Sustainable development and energy issues.
This concept is at the heart of a new vision of society to remedy the excesses and failures of a development whose boundaries have been strongly denounced by the early 1970s. The effects of industrialization (mass production of waste, pollution, etc.). Then appear and desertification, deforestation, the "hole" in the ozone layer is, a decade later, new sources of anxiety , soon followed by the erosion of biodiversity and global warming.
At the same time, we see that the economic policies of the second half of the twentieth century did little to improve the situation of the poorest. The inequalities are even dug, which raises the issue of growth and development.
Popularized by the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable development has emerged as a buzzword. In France, he acquired an important place, as evidenced by the establishment of a Department of Ecology and Sustainable Development, and the active participation of the President of the Republic at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002.
Sustainable development is now a concern for states, regions and municipalities, it also comes in the strategies of industrial companies and stakeholders in the tertiary sector.
The concept has also become a subject of education, from primary school to high school. The media have seized, publications on the subject are numerous, from economists, urban planners, political scientists, lawyers, planners and geographers.
Sustainable Development, which wants a new way of thinking about the world and to "manage", which attempts to provide answers to concerns about the planet, actually refers to many questions. Nevertheless, despite the political and conceptual vagueness surrounding the concept, despite doubts about the instruments to be adopted for its implementation, difficulty of articulation and definition of the scales relevant to its implementation, despite the multitude actors and the salience of conflicts that characterize their relations, sustainable development has acquired a global dimension which is necessary to underline the interest as contradictions. "
"Sustainable": the word comes today halo of very different actions. "Sustainable development" was installed in the discourse of international organizations, associations, political parties and businesses. But what is it exactly?
These are environmental issues (depletion of raw materials, climate change, biodiversity loss, etc..) Which led in the 1980s, the emergence of the concept of "sustainable development" (or "sustainability" of after the English term "sustainability"). The idea is to link economic development with strong maintenance of ecological balance, so as to avoid irreversible damage to future generations and the depletion of nonrenewable natural resources.
It was during the first Earth Summit, UN Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, that the concerns of sustainable development received a first concrete: affirmation of the principles of precaution, polluter pays, international responsibility, adoption of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, which opens the way for the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and the Convention on Biological Diversity; adoption of Agenda 21.
A new impetus was given to France in the 2000s after the Johannesburg Summit. It leads in particular the adoption of an Environmental Charter, backed by the Constitution in 2005.
A "Grenelle de l'Environnement", launched by the President in the summer of 2007, brought together representatives of state and civil society. This consultation process, conceived as "a starting point for the mobilization of French society to register its development in a sustainable way", has identified an action plan.
Sustainable development is the rational management of human, natural and economic aims to meet the basic needs of humanity. Sustainable development requires several conditions: the conservation of general equilibrium, The respect of the environment, preventing the depletion of natural resources, reducing waste generation and finally the rationalization of production and consumption energy.
In fact, this concept was born of two facts: the North / South divide and the pursuit of human development and ecological crisis accompanied by the urgent need to protect the environment.
Sustainable development and energy issues.
The issue of development of renewable energy (solar, heat pump, geothermal, solar heating ...) is inseparable from that of sustainable development. The stakes go beyond photovoltaic installation of a solar panel on its roof. With concentrating solar technology, photovoltaics could solve most of the energy problems of the planet. In theory, a solar power plant which would cover less than 1% of the Sahara would be able to produce all the energy of the planet.
Sustainable development: a concept in debate
Some reject the concept of sustainable development because it does not really question the current models of economic development, characterized by the production race, the high productivity (agriculture), integration into the commercial sphere of a growing number objects and activities. For them, it is illusory to believe that the continued growth along the lines of environmental protection. They criticize the idea that the increase increased capital (equipment, knowledge, skills, etc..) Created by men could offset the smaller quantity of natural capital (the stock of available natural resources).
Some also complain that the concept of sustainable development has become a catchall term, beyond the strict environmental and intergenerational, and that the authorities are using in many circumstances. Sustainable development thus covers social progress, solidarity among peoples, the fight against hunger, social equity, fair trade, healthy eating and appropriate, human rights, etc.. Moreover, NGOs, having invented and promoted sustainable development (such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, for example), are gradually dispossessed of such property by governments and businesses.
The concept of sustainable development is finally very ambivalent because on one hand, it emphasizes the negative effects of current economic development system, and, on the other, it may appear as a legitimation of current developments leave to incorporate an environmental dimension in them.We have to educate people regarding the importance of sustainable development.
