THE MEANING OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The discussion of sustainable development has frequently proved confusing. Some writers are concerned with the sustainability of the natural resource base, others with present or future levels of production and consumption. Similarly, there are marked differences of opinion over the way in which sustainable development might be achieved. We need to examine the different dimensions of sustainability separately, to consider the kinds of international policies that would be required to achieve them, and the extent to which global solutions are either possible or available. This paper addresses these issues of theory and divergent intellectual tradition, and considers the problems and possibilities of reaching agreement between the countries of the North and those of the South.