Introduction to sustainable development

Sustainable Development: Its Nature and Dynamics in Today's Global Societies

More than two (2) decades ago, nations from all over the world have discussed the future of our planet, as societies continuously industrialize, as they pursue the path to technological development and economic growth. The United Nations have become instrumental in promoting and facilitating these discussions among different countries, highly-industrialized ones or otherwise. In fact, the Brundtland Report, developed and published in the 1980s, reflected the need for sustainable development as a measure through which the irreversible negative effects of industrialization and urbanization can be reduced, if not totally eliminated. It reported that, in the 1980s, the world is "close to many [of those] thresholds," and "[t]here are thresholds that cannot be crossed without endangering the basic integrity of the system."

Indeed, these words from the Brudtland Report ring true today. Not only are we close to these thresholds that could endanger the natural, and in effect, all existing systems in the world, but we must now make the inevitable decision to act and come up with ways that will not force us to cross these thresholds. If indeed some of these thresholds have been crossed already, measures to counter potential damages to both natural and man-made systems must be immediately developed and implemented. This is why sustainable development has been a popular buzz word in the past decades, and has been the guiding principle of most companies and corporations that have been dominantly using energy as a core part of their operations and business survival. Sustainable development is technically defined by the United Nations and the Brundtland Commission Report as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (UNDESA, 2002:7).

The implications of implementing sustainable development programs or business operations require not only the cooperation of business organizations, but are actually an interdependent relationship between the government, civil society, and groups or sectors operating within the society. Efficient fuel consumption, for example, is an effort that is considered sustainable because fuel consumption is a present need of end-users, but efficient use of this source of energy -- that is, fuel is consumed optimally and with the least harmful effect on the users' environment -- ensures that this act of consumption would have the least detrimental effect on the natural environment (specifically, the acceleration of air pollution and eventual depletion of ozone layer). Efficient fuel consumption is an effort requiring the involvement of every individual and sector in the society: governments can monitor companies' greenhouse gas emissions through legislation, businesses can develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that aim to implement laws and rules on efficient fuel consumption, and even individuals can do their part by making sure that their appliances are energy efficient, for example.