Sustainable development is defined as a process of change whereby the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional changes are harmonized to take into account both present and future needs. But how and why did we come to talk about sustainable development?
The birth of sustainable development
The concept of sustainable development first emerged in the famous book The Limits to Growth , which illustrated the results of a simulation model developed by a research group at MIT . The model aimed to evaluate what might happen if certain phenomena continued along the lines they had been exhibiting since the early 70s. Five phenomena were considered: population growth , food production , industrial production , environmental pollution , and resource exploitation.
The conclusions of this study considered planet Earth a closed system , unable to support the exponential growth of population, agricultural and industrial production, and the inevitable pollution they produce. Depleted soils would provide less nourishment for a growing population, and the exploitation of non-renewable resources would lead to their exhaustion within a few decades. A sort of predicted collapse of the planet, with famines, epidemics, and wars among the Earth's inhabitants over increasingly scarce resources, with a definitive collapse in 2100.
Sustainable development in 4 conferences
This book sparked a global debate and the birth of the concept of sustainable development through four conferences. In 1972, the first United Nations Conference on the Environment was held in Stockholm . The Conference marked the beginning of international environmental policy . For the first time, environmental issues were discussed at a global level. Later that same year, the United Nations Environment Programme was established with its headquarters in Nairobi.
In 1987, in Tokyo , the World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Brundtland, drafted the report Our Common Future (Brundtland Report), which addressed the close connection between economic development and environmental quality . The Brundtland Report popularized the concept of sustainable development and provided the most widely accepted and used definition worldwide. Its main merit is that it set in motion a process that created the context for sustainability policies and legislative activities in this area. In 1992, the Third United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro . During the summit, the international community managed to agree on a programmatic document for the achievement of sustainable development in the 21st century, Agenda 21. The Conference also laid the foundations for the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development with the Rio Principles, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Declaration of Principles for Sustainable Forest Management.
The fourth conference was held in Kyoto in 1997, the first example of a global environmental policy to control a global factor (climate) with legally binding effects on states. It required them to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2010. This protocol is still non-binding because it was intended to enter into force only once signed by a number of countries representing more than 55% of greenhouse gas emissions, but it has not yet been ratified by some countries such as the United States (over 35% carbon dioxide), Russia (over 17%), China , and India.
The ecological debt
Sustainable development cannot be defined without considering global interdependencies. It is entirely possible for a single state to pursue ecologically sustainable development within its own borders, preserving its resources for present and future generations, while drawing on resources from third countries to such an extent that these countries lack the same opportunity for lasting and sustainable development. Industrialized countries contribute 76% of global consumption, yet their population represents only 15% of the world's total. This should be considered precisely when assessing environmental costs, that is, between those who produce pollution and those who bear its costs, a kind of " ecological debt " as opposed to "financial debt."
Umberto Catanzariti
