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Definitions of Sustainable Development
Various definitions of SD are listed below.
- "Sustainable development meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. "United
Nations World Commission on Environment and Development.
- "The earth belongs to each generation during its
course, fully and in its own right, no generation can contract
debts greater than may be paid during the course of its
own existence." Thomas Jefferson,
September 6, 1789.
- "Sustainability refers to the ability of a society,
ecosystem, or any such ongoing system to continue functioning
into the indefinite future without being forced into decline
through exhaustion of key resources." Robert
Gilman, President of Context Institute.
- "Sustainability is the emerging doctrine that economic
growth and development must take place, and be maintained
over time, within the limits set by ecology in the broadest
sense - by the interrelations of human beings and their
works, the biosphere and the physical and chemical laws
that govern it. It follows that environmental protection
and economic development are complementary rather than antagonistic
processes."
William D. Ruckelshaus, "Toward
a Sustainable World," Scientific American, September
1989.
- "The word sustainable has roots in the Latin subtenir,
meaning 'to hold up' or 'to support from below.' A community
must be supported from below - by its inhabitants, present
and future. Certain places, through the peculiar combination
of physical, cultural, and, perhaps, spiritual characteristics,
inspire people to care for their community. These are the
places where sustainability has the best chance of taking
hold."
Muscoe Martin, "A Sustainable
Community Profile," from Places, Winter 1995.
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