Sustainable Development

According to World Commission on Environment and Development which is also popularly known as Brundtlandt Commission, sustainable development is defined as "development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Sustainable development means preservation of the stocks of resources including environmental resources and exhaustible resources. The major cause of worry about the sustainability of development is supposed to be the wasteful consumption style. The present production technology is making large use of the non-renewable natural resources such as coal, gas, petroleum which are also called fossil fuels. These sources of energy are the result of natural storage which is of hundred or more years old.

Even the renewable natural resources like forest animals, water etc. are being used by the human being in such a way that very soon there will be shortage of these resources. The nature has assimilating capacity but if the pollution levels remain very high then nature may not be able to assimilate it. This may result in lack of clean water and clean air.

If these non-renewable natural resources deplete rapidly then our future generations may not find anything for their use. Therefore, a little restraint needs to be practiced. The environment is not restricted to natural boundaries which means that if people in any part of the world follow unhealthy practices it may result in harming the entire humanity.

Hence, sustainable development is a path of development in which options of future generations are not compromised by the acts of present generation.