Purpose and content
Since the late 1980s, sustainable development has garnered much interest and policy
initiatives in both the public and private sector. However, sustainable development objective
often lack a firm grasp of the origins and true meaning of the concept.
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An understanding of a holistic perspective on development.
Evolution of sustainable development through the perspective of international
conferences and publications often referred to in discussions of sustainability.
Introduces the challenges that are frequently confronted to conceptualize sustainable
development in different disciplinary lenses.
Discussion of the need to adopt a holistic and integrative approach to the design of
policies and initiatives aimed at achieving more sustainable forms of development.
2.2 The Emergence of Sustainable Development
Gained formal international recognition at the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, it is possible to
trace the roots of the concept back to the 1950s/1960s, when developed nations were
becoming increasingly aware that the local or regional environment was being stressed by
rapid industrialization.
2.2.1 The Formation of Environmental Movements
The London Smog of 1952–1953 illustrated the dangerous effects of pollution (Bell and
Davis 2001; Davis et al. 2002), Rachael Carson’s book Silent Spring in 1962 focused on the
negative impacts of industrial activities, such as DDT and argued from users to continue their
development. “Silent Spring altered a balance of power in the world. No one since would be
able to sell pollution as the necessary underside of progress so easily or uncritically” (Hynes
1989, p. 3). Two classic publications which supported this movement were “The Tragedy of
the Commons” (Hardin 1968) and the Population Bomb (Ehrlich 1968). Hardin (1968)
highlighted private actors to exploit the public/environmental commons. Ehrlich (1968)
expressed concern that the appetite of a growing population may not be met by a fixed
resource base—a similar argument to that made in Limits to Growth (Meadows et al. 1972).
The latter report was novel in its use of computer simulations to illustrate potentially
disastrous future consequences of the continuation of current production and consumption
patterns.