The Meaning of Sustainable Development

Academic Paper from the year 2005 in the subject Environmental Sciences, grade: 2, , language: English, abstract: To throw light upon some recent approaches to sustainability and sustainable development this essay compares and contrasts four documents of different authors. Evolving from its roots in the 1972 publication 'Limits to Growth' by the Club of Rome to its recent notions, sustainability and sustainable development have become elusive terms to describe in which way mankind can face the problems of the present and the future. The findings of the Club of Rome and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972 indicated, that growth is limited by the finiteness of natural resources. However, growth was seen as an essential mean to alleviate inequalities throughout the world.