A New Concept – What is Sustainable Development?
The definition of sustainable development – “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” – might sound a bit complex, but it’s actually quite straightforward. Firstly, we need development now. Secondly, our descendants also need to develop in the future. We cannot harm their ability to do so.
What does it mean to harm future generations’ ability to develop? Take a simple example: A woodcutter makes his living by chopping wood. If, to earn more money and support his son better, he chops down all the trees on the mountain, what will his son do when he grows up and wants to continue chopping wood for a living, only to find no trees left? While the father might have thought cutting more wood was for his son’s benefit, was he truly helping his son by hastily stripping the entire mountain bare?
Similarly, if we pursue rapid development by exhausting all resources and damaging the planet, leaving our children and grandchildren a polluted and resource-depleted world, what will they use to develop?
The answer is simple. To ensure future generations can continue to develop, we, the current generation, must act with restraint. In the woodcutter’s case, if he were wise, he wouldn’t cut wood faster than the trees can grow. Then he would always have wood to chop, and his son, and his son’s son, could sustainably live off the mountain.
Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
In fact, ancient agricultural societies often functioned this way. However, since the advent of industrial civilization, the pace of human societal growth has accelerated beyond the Earth’s carrying capacity and the regeneration rate of natural resources. Increasingly severe environmental problems emerged, prompting intelligent humanity to reflect: Is humanity becoming the foolish woodcutter wanting to clear the entire mountain? Can the tragedy of exhausting one’s resources be avoided?
Theoretical Background:
1980: The drawbacks of the “pollute first, clean up later” model became widely recognized. The UN called on the world to research new development models. The concept of “sustainable development” was first mentioned in the World Conservation Strategy published jointly by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
1983: The UN established the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED).
1987: In the report Our Common Future, the WCED provided the first concrete elaboration of sustainable development: 1) Development is essential, and 2) Development must have limits, considering future generations. This view gained broad international consensus.
1992: The concept of sustainable development was formally established as a common strategy for human societal development through the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21, adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2002: The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, attended by 192 countries, marked a substantial step forward on the path to sustainable development.
2012: At the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 Summit), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) formally proposed the concept of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
2015: At the UN Sustainable Development Summit, all 193 UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, formally establishing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda stipulates that implementation must consider the specific realities, capacities, and levels of development of individual countries, respecting their national development strategies and priorities. Countries are progressively integrating the Agenda into their national strategies and plans.
The answer humanity found is “Sustainable Development”: meeting the fundamental needs of all people in the present without endangering the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This development model emphasizes intra- and inter-generational equity and sustainability in resource utilization over time. Narrowly, it refers to the coordinated relationship between nature, the ecological environment, and the economy. Broadly, it emphasizes the healthy, long-term development of human society.
From Tradition to Modernity – How to Understand Sustainable Development?
Similar ideas are often reflected in China’s traditional culture. Ancient agrarian civilizations also understood the need to “use resources sparingly” and “leave room for maneuver.” For example, “not cutting down saplings when gathering firewood” and “not using ‘extermination nets’ (nets that catch everything, including juveniles) for fishing” were practices aimed at leaving hope and possibilities for the future and for descendants. In today’s terms, this means leaving developmental possibilities for future generations. Over five thousand years of history, China’s ancient working people had already grasped the necessity of sustainable development.
Traditional Culture: Harmonious Coexistence with Nature
“If the seasons of husbandry be not interfered with, the grain will be more than can be eaten. If close nets are not allowed to enter the pools and ponds, the fishes and turtles will be more than can be consumed. If the axes and bills enter the hills and forests only at the proper time, the wood will be more than can be used.” – Mencius, King Hui of Liang I
“During the seasons when plants and trees flourish and grow abundantly, axes should not enter the mountains and forests, so as not to cut short their life or interrupt their growth.”; “Raise them with principle, take them at the proper time”; “Take with measure, use with thrift.”
“To cut down a single tree or kill a single animal not in its proper season is unfilial.” (Implies disrespect for the natural order and thus for ancestors).
Idioms criticizing unsustainable behavior: “Draining the pond to get all the fish” (exhausting resources for immediate gain), “Burning the forest to hunt” (reckless destruction for short-term profit).
After the founding of New China, the country early on established an environmental protection strategy emphasizing that economic construction should not follow the old path of Western developed countries: “pollute first, clean up later.” However, phenomena of blind and extensive economic development did exist for a period. Following the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, China actively implemented the concept of sustainable development. The concept was written into the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000). Since the new century, the concept of sustainable development has been elevated to the level of a strategic guiding principle.
The New Era: Scientific Outlook on Development & Ecological Civilization
In 1997, the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) emphasized the importance of implementing the major strategy of sustainable development.
The Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward the Scientific Outlook on Development: “Putting people first, establishing a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable outlook on development to promote all-round economic and social development and the all-round development of people.” This provided direction for China’s realization of sustainable development from both a political and scientific perspective.