Unit 4.
7 Sustainable development
What you should know by the end of this chapter
• Defining economic development
• The meaning of sustainable economic development
• Unsustainable economic development
• UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Relationship between sustainability and poverty (HL only)
Nature of sustainable development
Definition
Sustainable economic development was defined by the
Bruntland Commission as “development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.”
Economic development to meet the needs of the
present can be defined as the sustained rise in the
welfare of a country’s population overtime.
The concept of improved welfare is a broad term, but it can be considered in the following ways:
• The long-term rise in household real income so they can access a better material quality of
life.
• Falling levels of absolute poverty so the poorest in society experience a rise in their quality
of life.
• Improving the standard of the population's health so people can lead longer, healthier
lives.
• Raising the quality of education and widening its access to give greater educational
opportunities to the whole population.
• Creating greater equity for all people in society so all households have the opportunity to
improve their welfare.
This list of defining characteristics of development could be extended, but is does cover the basic
parameters of the nature of economic development.
© Alex Smith
InThinking www.thinkib.net/Economics 1
Future welfare
Sustainable economic development means widening our definition of economic development to
consider the welfare of people in the future. To be sustainable improvements in income, poverty,
health, education and equity need to be achieved without reducing the ability of society to deliver
these improvements to future generations. For example, increasing the current rate of economic
growth in a country that raises household incomes and takes people out of poverty, must not be at
the expense of environmental costs that negatively affect the next generation of people in twenty or
thirty years time.
Unsustainable development
In striving to deliver improvements in welfare to
the existing population there are many examples
of unsustainable development.
Economic growth can lead to unsustainable development in the following ways:
• Economic growth will lead to negative externalities of production and consumption. This is
particularly important on long term global environmental issues such as climate change.
• Economic growth leads to localised pollution that results from negative externalities which
will adversely affect people in the future.
• Industries such as mining, forestry, fishing and agriculture can over exploit finite resources,
so their availability is more limited in the future.
• Unregulated building of houses, offices and factories means spoiling the natural
environment as well as the places people choose to live in the future.
• Economic activity can reduce the levels of biodiversity amongst plants and animals in the
future.
• As economies grow people increasingly move to cities which leads to the problems of over-
crowding and this can reduce the welfare of the population in the future.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015 the United Nations set 17 goals that all UN member countries in the world should strive to
achieve to meet the objective of sustainable development by 2030. One of the key themes of the
UN’s sustainable development plan is coordinated action by all countries who should work together
in global partnership. It is a very ambitious plan because it means trying to take people out of
poverty, improve education and health and reduce income inequality while at the same time trying
to manage climate change.
© Alex Smith
InThinking www.thinkib.net/Economics 2
The UN’s sustainable development goals are much broader than the Bruntland Commission’s
definition.
Sustainable Development Goals are:
Relationship between sustainability and poverty (HL)
In some situations improvements in poverty can happen at the same time as sustainable
development, but in other situations these aims can conflict with each other.
Reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development
In order to reduce absolute poverty and increase household income to a level which makes it
possible for an individual or family to meet the basic needs of life there will need to be some
economic growth. In order to be sustainable this economic growth will need to occur with increasing
levels of renewable energy, involve responsible consumption and production, and maintain bio-
diversity.
Reducing poverty and failing to achieve sustainable development
Countries with high rates of economic growth can lift large numbers of households out of poverty
but this can lead to unsustainable development. If the economic growth comes from energy
produced from fossil fuels this will contribute to climate change. If the country's industries have low
environmental standards this can cause localised pollution. The negative externalities associated
with economic growth achieved in this way are unlikely to make economic development
sustainable. Thus, there can be a conflict between taking people out of poverty and achieving
sustainable development.
© Alex Smith
InThinking www.thinkib.net/Economics 3
