Essay on climate change and sustainable development
Answers
Explanation:
In an over-used quotation, the Brundtland Report defines sustainable development as development that meets the
needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It
has been acclaimed as a breakthrough, a balanced definition that integrates social and economic concerns with
environmental ones, efficiency with equity, inter-generational with intra-generational equity, and most importantly,
Northern interests with Southern ones. However, although the ubiquity of references to this definition suggests a
degree of professional consensus, such is not the case. There is considerable professional disagreement, most-
ly on how to put the idea into operation, but also on questions of definition and on its claims to synthesis.
For example, Qizalbash (1998) criticises the invocation of “inter-generational equity”, arguing instead that [at least
from a southern perspective] the real goal of sustainable development is inter-generational inequity, namely the
assurance that future generations would not suffer from the same deprivations and injustices that exist today. To
be fair, as Qizalbash notes, the Brundtland Report does try to finesse this issue by mentioning the future genera-
tion’s ability to meet its needs - presumably more effectively than the current generation - but this simply trans-
poses the need for inequity from the domain of needs to that of ability.
This is not a simple social science versus natural science debate. Indeed, this woul
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