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Thursday 9 May 2013

Sustainable Development: a problem of definition


At the recent Hustings for the DCC elections, organised by the Vision Group held at Kennaway House in Sidmouth, it was clear that it is very difficult to arrive at a definition of 'sustainable development':
The candidates were asked to define what they meant by 'sustainable development'  and gave an understanding as to how much and what type of housing should or should not be built in and around Sidmouth & East Devon - and that was about it. 
Well, what are the issues carried by the label 'sustainable development'?
Sustainable development.svg
Barbier, E. (1987). "The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development"

Sustainable development refers to a mode of human development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while ensuring the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come. The term 'sustainable development' was used by the Brundtland Commission, which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."[1][2]
Some criticize the term "sustainable development", stating that the term is too vague. Luc Ferry[60]  writes about sustainable development: "I know that this term is obligatory, but I find it also absurd, or rather so vague that it says nothing." Luc Ferry adds that the term is trivial by a proof of contradiction: "who would like to be a proponent of an “untenable development! Of course no one! [..] The term is more charming than meaningful.

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