Sustainability and Development: From the Lens of Social Justice

Abstract

Sustainability is a much-talked-about term in today’s time. Sustainability’s relation with development is quite complex. The term Sustainability means to sustain and was first mentioned in the Brundtland Report in the World Commission on Environment. It defined sustainability as meeting our needs without being detrimental to future needs. Sustaining the resources with a decent pace of development is what is important. The development itself is a debated term with respect to its meaning. Whether it only means economic growth or overall development of a country, including social development, economic growth, and sustaining the natural environment to provide enough resources for the generations to come. Taking only that much from nature which doesn’t result in exploitation of the environment, thereby resulting in injustice. This further raises an issue with regard to the affluent countries already developed and poor countries making an effort to bring a standard of living for its citizens. This paper makes an attempt to argue that sustainability and development are not opposite to each other rather, both should go hand in hand. Thus, the concept of sustainable development came to be, and what we rightly mean by sustainable development and how it may result in terms of social justice. A developed society is one where social justice prevails, not only in the talking terms but also in terms of policies and implementation. This paper makes an attempt to draw this parallel between the theory and practice.