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Key Events in formulation of sustainable development

Key Events in formulation of sustainable development

 

 

Key Events in formulation of sustainable development

Origins of Sustainability

Report for Task 1.1 -  Appraisal of Sustainability Project

Charlotte Kelly, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds

Sustainability or Sustainable development has been commonly defined as “Economic and social development that meets the needs of the current generation without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (WCED, 1987).  This definition brought together what is now known as the three pillars of sustainable development; economic development, social development and ecological development under one societal goal of sustainability.  Figure 1 shows a common diagrammatic representation of how these three pillars need to link together to meet this goal of sustainability.

 

The history behind sustainability has not always been represented in this interlinked form or through the use of the WCED (1987) definition and not everyone agrees with this synopsis.  This paper will provide a summary of the key advances in thought through history that have contributed to the need now at the start of the 21st century to consider sustainable development as a key research issue and societal need in the UK and beyond. Additional events and documents are provided in the sustainability timeline in appendix 1.

Key Events in the formulation of sustainable development

One of the first key publications looking at the ability of the earth to sustain its population was ‘An essay on the principle of population’ written in 1798 by Thomas Malthus.  In this essay Mathus proposed that the future growth in population was unsustainable, as population grew exponentially while resources grew arithmetically, so at some point the population would out grow the resources available to them leading to famine, war and plagues.  This did not happen as was predicted due to advances in sanitation, technology, food distribution and population growth slowing down, but the overall theory is still relevant in the 21st century.   Populations are still growing and while technology is still advancing non renewable resources are being consumed reducing the resources that are available to future generations.

Malthus essay implied that there was a maximum number of people that the earth could sustain and after this point was reached forces such as famines would intervene to reduce this imbalance.  This theory has been widely used in ecology using the terminology of carrying capacity, which implies that an ecological system can only carry a critical limit, by overshooting this limit results in overuse of resources and eventual collapse of the population.  In particular it has been used widely in the fishing industry where over time officials have determined what a sustainable harvest of fish was or more commonly, what was the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) to prevent overshooting.  Larkin (1977) wrote:

Any species each year produces a harvestable surplus
And if you take that much,
And no more,
You can go on getting it forever and ever

One problem with this concept was the inability to make accurate predictions of the numbers of fish that equalled the MSY leading to over or under fishing depending on the predictions.  It can be seen from the concepts of MSY and Malthus concept of population out growing the earth that the roots of sustainability evolved from an ecological perspective.  In both cases the carrying capacity needed to be maintained at a ‘sustainable’ level.   

In 1968 Garret Hardins publicised ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’, which considered the problem again of over use of natural resources.  This article highlighted the need for a moral stance to maintain public resources and reported that technological advances were no longer enough.  The tragedy of the commons evolves when individuals use a public good, but do not pay for the full cost of it.  The example used is a pasture in which farmers can graze their cattle.  Each individual seeks to maximise their individual utility while at the same time not paying the full cost for it.   As individuals the best way to maximise utility is to use as much of the public good as possible and as each of the individuals all pursue this strategy the finite public good is used up and in the case of the farmers there is no longer any grass to graze their cattle.  This article highlighted the need for society to play a role in educating its citizens in the morals of sustaining their environments, as it was no longer sufficient to rely on technological advances to provide indefinitely for the future. 

Before the 1960s there was not public widespread knowledge of the environmental and conservation issues being faced in the world.  Munn R (1992) states that it was not until the 1960s that environmental citizens groups became a major political force and this was due to the people starting to recognise that pollution was pervasive and the countryside endangered.  It is reported that the public concerns raised in the 1960s were one of the main reasons for the 1972 United Nations conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.  This global conference agreed on 26 principles, but no strategy to meet these principles.  The agreements included principle 3 which stated that ‘The capacity of the earth to produce vital renewable resources must be maintained and, wherever practicable, restored or improved.’     This principle drew on the previously discussed concept of maintaining the carrying capacity.  A result of this conference was the creation of the United National Environment Program (UNEP) was set up whose mission was to ‘provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations’.
One key objective that was to come out of the Stockholm conference was that the concept of "no growth" could not be a viable policy for any society.  This issue of limited growth first considered in Malthus was to be publicized again in 1972 through Meadows et al book entitled ‘Limits to growth: A report for the club of Rome’s Project on the predicament of Mankind’.  This book concluded that if growth trends remained unchanged then the limits to growth would be reached in the next 100 years, but that this time period could be extended if growth trends were altered to establish a  ‘a condition of ecological and economic stability’.  This book was very controversial at its time, but served to further highlight to the world the possibilities that their actions could have.  It also recognized the need to combine both an ecological and economic approach to reducing the negative aspects of society.
In the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s the political importance of the environment declined.  Munn (1992) provides a number of potential reasons for this including; the economic recession in the mid 1970s caused a loss of job opportunities for ecological students, the sectoral nature of government meant that the environmental concerns were not fully integrated into the economic planning system.  The lack of public awareness had led to a decline in the perceived importance of that which had culminated in the Stockholm conference.
The next major event in the history of the term sustainable development was the World Conservation Strategy set up by the UNEP in 1980, which identified the need for long term solutions and the integration of environmental and development objectives.  It is this strategy that first used the terminology ‘development that is sustainable’.  The strategy stated that:
‘This is the kind of development that provides real improvements in the quality of human life and at the same time conserves the vitality and diversity of the Earth.  The goal is development that will be sustainable.  Today it may seem visionary but it is attainable.  To more and more people it also appears our only rational option’.  World Conservation Srategy, IUCN, UNEP and WWF (1980).
One of the main issues with this strategy was that it dealt specifically with conservation and didn’t provide a holistic view of what we now understand as sustainability.  This Holistic view of sustainability was realized seven years later in the Brundtland Report ‘our common future’. This report had drawn on the conclusion from the 1984 International Conference in London on Environment and Economics which was that the environment and economics should be mutually reinforcing.

The Brundtland report considered the ways in which the worlds growing population could meet its needs over the next century.  In doing this it defined the term sustainable development as "economic and social development that meets the needs of the current generation without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (WCED,1997).  This report highlighted the requirement for economic, social and environmental development to be considered together in order to achieve sustainable development in the future.  This definition was not met with universal agreement and in the subsequent years a number of alternative definitions and diagrammatic representations have been proposed (see appendix 1 and 2). 

The UK Governments response to the Brundtland report was published in 1998 (HMSO 1994).  One of the key arguments that is makes is that:
‘There can be no quarrel with the [the Brundtland principles] as a general definition.  The key point is how to translate it into practice, how to measure it and to assess progress towards its achievement…’

At this point in time sustainable development was just a hypothetical goal.  The next stage was to determine exactly what it meant in practical terms.

Some of the ideas from the Brundtland report were used in the UK’s first environment strategy, in the 1990 white paper, This Common Inheritance.   This report set out the Governments approach to improving the environment both from Britain’s perspective but also what Britain should accomplish in Europe and in the World Environment and on an individual British citizens basis.  It proposed the integration of economic growth with improvements in the environment thus recognising that to achieve a better environment in the future it was not sufficient to consider these two characteristics in isolation and that society must have a role in environmental conservation. 

The next critical event in the development of an understanding of sustainability was the 1992 Rio Earth Summit on environment and development.  This summit moved the concept of sustainable development forward in a number of ways.  In the run up to the summit Agenda 21 was prepared as a blueprint for sustainable development in the world.  Inspired by the Brundtland report it described a strategy that combined the three dimensions of social, economic and environment with action at all levels of Governance.  Principle 4 of the Rio Declaration embodies this strategy by stating that:

‘In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.’

Agenda 21 was to have wide reaching implications for the world.  The commission for Sustainable development (CSD) was set up to ensure that Agenda 21 would have an impact at all levels of governance, which called for national and local sustainable development strategies.   Agenda 21 is now part of local authority strategy in the UK following from the political speech given by Tony Blair at the UN general Assembly in 1997:

‘‘I want all local authorities in the UK to adopt Local Agenda 21 strategies by the year 2000’

This has resulted in a number of documents and websites providing advice on how to achieve this goal (see appendix 1).  In the years following from the summit indicators have been developed at national and local levels to operationalise the objectives being considered. 

 

One of the results of the Rio Earth Summit for the UK was that it produced its first Sustainable Development Strategy in 1994 building from its 1990 environment strategy to include all three dimensions (social, economic and environmental) as proposed by Agenda 21.   As part of this strategy Economic Development and Sustainability frameworks were developed for sectors of the economy including Transport and Economic Activity.  The aims of the sustainable framework for transport were (HMSO, 1994):

To strike the right balance between the ability of transport to serve economic development and the ability to protect the environment and sustain future quality of life

To provide for the economic and social needs for access with less need for travel

To take measures which reduce the environmental impact of transport and influence the rate of traffic growth

To ensure that users pay the full social and environmental cost of their transport decisions, so improving the overall efficiency of those decisions for the economy as a whole and bringing environmental benefits.

These objectives highlight the move to a more holistic approach to planning for ‘sustainable’ transport compared to the previous emphasis on the environment.  The UK has since taken the sustainability debate forward in a series of round tables on sustainable development starting in 1996. 

In 1997 the social exclusion Unit was formed by the current labour government.  This unit sought to increase the importance of the social dimension when considering a sustainable future.   The mandate was ‘to create aprosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities for the 21st century - places where people want to live that promote opportunity and a better quality of life for all’.  This was an important change as previously the dimensions of environment and economy had been critical in peoples visions for a sustainable future, by creating the social exclusion unit this expanded the social issues from that being related to poverty.

One of the key applications in the UK of the advances in how to define sustainability has been through the introduction in 1998 of the New Approach to Appraisal (NATA).  The main advance in this approach is to present a single summary table (Appraisal Summary Table (AST)) of the main social, economic and environmental impacts of a particular scheme so that they can be considered together in the appraisal process.

The UK updated its sustainability strategy and published - A better quality of life, a strategy for sustainable development for the UK in 1999.  This Strategy defines sustainable development as ‘ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come’.  The four main aims of this strategy relate directly to the three key pillars of sustainability as previously defined:

  • social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;
  • effective protection of the environment;
  • prudent use of natural resources; and
  • maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

The strategy reports a number of indicators that can be used to meet each of these objectives.  This strategy has been reviewed each year since 1999 in the publication ..
In 1999 the UK government also published the white paper – modernising Government in which it committed itself  to ‘produce and deliver an integrated system of impact and appraisal tools in support of sustainable development covering impacts on business, the environment, health, and the needs of particular groups in society’ .    A result of this white paper was the creation of the IPA (Integrated Policy Appraisal tool) and the RIA (Regulatory Impact Assessment) which is now the main tool for integrating sustainable development into central government policy making.  The core of the approach considers the economic, social and environment impacts of any policy.
The sustainable development website for the UK was launched in 2000 to bring together resources on the UK government’s sustainable development approach.  It can be found at http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk
This discussion has sought to consider some of the critical publications and events that have influenced how people think about sustainabilility.  It is only a small sample of the vast resources that that exist.  As part of the work completed for task 1 a website has been produced that allows a wider range of resources and documents to be accessed. 
An example of a section of the timeline created to present this information is presented on the next page.  It shows an example of the links to resources available over the period 1968 to 2005.  The web site can be found at www.its.leeds.ac.uk/research/index.html from November onwards.  The timeline emphasises the change in the UK from an environmental or resources based decision making process to the inclusion of society as an important element of the planning process.  This is emphasised by the introduction of the NATA in 1998 which incorporated the three pillars of sustainability in the creation of the appraisal summary table. 

 




Perspectives on Sustainability

The development of sustainability in the timeline showed a gradual change in the focus from being based on an ecological concept to encompassing all three elements of economy, environment and society.  This is only the starting point as to start moving towards this idealistic goal these functions of a sustainable society need to be described in terms applicable to today’s society.  The literature describes a number of ways that people have interpreted sustainability.  Of particular note are the diagrammatic perspectives, the use of the concept of ‘capital’ to define the 3 pillars and finally, the differentiation of ‘Weak’ and ‘strong’ sustainability.  These in turn will now be considered in this section to determine their relevance for considering sustainable transport.

Diagrammatic Representations

A wide range of diagrams have been used to represent the three pillars of sustainability.  The most commonly used are the three interlinked circles (Figure 1).  This model describes sustainable development at the point where all three pillars are interlinked.  It recognises that there are links between pairs of pillars for instance community economic development arises from a combination of the economy and society.  This diagram is limited in terms of further explaining sustainability as it does not provide an indication of which elements of the three pillars have to link together to improve sustainability it merely suggests that this has to happen.  In terms of sustainable transport it provides no indication of the weighting that each pillar should receive in the process.

The next diagram that has been used to help explain sustainability is provided in Figure 3.  This takes the analysis one step further, as it provides the links between each of the elements of society.  For example it shows that there is a key two way link between natural system and the economic system, which is also linked to the human system.  This diagram shows that there is an intricate web of links in the processes behind how each of the elements work together, which all need to be considered when thinking about sustainable transport.  This diagram is good because it shows that through affecting one area of society this has direct implications for all other elements through the way that they are interlinked.  However this is really all it shows, as it provides no indication of how important changes in one area have on the other five. 


Source: Bossel H (1999)

The next figure (figure 3) apposes the previous two diagrams as it suggests that the economy and society should not be treated in isolation, but rather as a whole.  It is this relationship between the human activity and well being and the environment that is the key to understanding sustainability.


Source: Giddings et al (2002)

Figure 4 also tries to show the dependency of the three elements on each other.  The diagram shows that the economy is dependent on society (which surrounds it) and then both of these elements are dependent on the environment which surrounds the whole argument.  In both figure 4 and figure 3 the implication is that the environment is the most important element of the process.  It will be important to consider these generic diagrams from the perspective of only transport to determine whether the arguments that they present still hold.


Source: Giddings et al (2002)

Figure 5 presents a slightly different argument, as it suggests that it is through the combination of the pairs of pillars that comprehensive sustainability is achieved.  This reduces the need to consider all three elements at once and breaks down the problem into the three different aspects of:

  1. Sustainable Development
  2. Community Liveability
  3. social and economic equity


Source: TRANSLAND (2000)

The final diagram (figure 6) aims to show that not all the literature agrees with the three dimensions of sustainability.  This figure describes a fourth key dimension of Institutional participations. This structure of four key elements is used in the set of indicators published by the UN Commission for Sustainable Development which is thematically based on the chapters of Agenda 21. 

All of these diagrams represent different elements of sustainability in different ways.  They all show that sustainability is a holistic concept and that each element is important to the process, but in certain circumstances different pillars are more important.  For instance figures 3 and 4 both describe the economy and society being heavily dependent on the environment.  These diagrams while presenting sustainability or sustainable development do not provide the whole picture of what sustainability involves in practice.  It will be important to consider what relevance these generic diagrams have for sustainable transport and whether considering just transport in isolation is consistent with considering sustainability in society.

 

 

 

Perspectives on Sustainability

One of the key arguments in the economic literature is the difference between those who advocate weak sustainability and those who advocate strong sustainability.  The key concept used to distinguish these two extremes is the use of capital.  Both camps argue that total capital in an economy must be non decreasing over time for sustainability to hold. 

Total capital is represented in equation 1.  It is calculated as the sum of natural capital, man made capital, human capital and a recent addition social capital.   Natural capital refers to the resources available in the environmental and includes natural resources, ecosystem services and the beauty of nature.  Man made capital (Man made K) refers to the infrastructure in the economy such as the roads or the buildings. Human capital refers to the training, education and skills embodied in the labour market. 

Social capital is not included in the economic literature for this argument, but it is important that it is incorporated for this research study. The importance of society in sustainability has increased in importance as shown by the timeline and is a prominent feature in the NATA.  Social capital refers to the ‘networks, norms and trust and the way these allow people and institutions to be more effective in achieving common objectives’ (Schuller T).  The concept embodies the connections (networks) that people have with their families, neighbours, local community and government.  As with the other forms of capital by investing in the social pillar returns can be achieved.

 

Equation 1       Total K = Natural K + Man Made K + Human K + Social K

The main difference between weak and strong sustainability is that under weak sustainability substitution is allowed between man made capital and natural capital, as long as the total capital remains non decreasing.  The reason for this rule is that it is based on neoclassical theory, which assumes that everything has a market price and as everything has a market price it is tradable.  This means that countries can trade their natural resources for investment in the other forms of capital, as long as the total capital level does not decrease.  Cost Benefit Analysis is an example of how factors in the economy are given a market price and then the benefits and costs are analysed to determine whether the benefits outweigh the costs.      There are some obvious flaws in this argument, which need to be considered.  These include:

  • The lack of substitutability between natural and man made capital
  • Flaws in how to monetise natural resources (e.g. how much is a nature reserve worth).
  • Whose preferences are included in the valuations

 

An example of a situation where a country followed the weak sustainability route and ended up being unsustainable is provided in figure 7.

Figure 7 Example of weak sustainability


A presentation by Professor John Gowdy reported an example where over use of a countries natural capital caused long term unsustainability.  He described an island in Asia that in the 1960s was found to have a large source of a natural mineral.  This country decided to sell this natural resource in order to invest in its people and economy (due to the high market price that could be achieved for its resource).  The country rationally put away a bond that was worth billions of pounds to ensure that its population in the future would be well cared for even if the resources completely ran out.  The problem was the Asian market crashed and this significantly reduced the value of the bond that was being put away instantly reducing the viability of the island, as by this point 70% of the natural resource had been sold, so there was less natural resources to fall back on.  By substituting non renewable natural resources for other forms of capital you can never get this back in the future.

 Advocates of strong sustainability argue that resources are non substitutable, so each type of capital stock must be maintained in its own right for sustainability to hold.   This argument rejects the idea that our man made capital adequately compensates future generations for ecological losses. 

These two arguments for sustainability provide a more concrete argument for what sustainability means in practice, but what does it mean for sustainable transport?  In terms of having a strong sustainability approach this requires that the transport system does not use up any non renewable resources.  This has obvious implications for the fuels that the transport industry uses and the distances that people would be able to travel.  Appraisal practice that concentrates on CBA is moving more towards the weak sustainability focus.  The key questions are where is our current focus? And where do we think the focus of sustainable transport should be in the future?  These questions should be taken forward in each of the individual studies to determine what implications they have for sustainable transport.

 

 


 

 


Appendix 1 Timeline of Sustainability

 

 

 

Date

Event

Description

1878

Thomas Malthus

An essay on the principle of population

This essay noted that populations increased exponentially while available resources grow arithmetically.
Malthus predicted that this will inevitably lead to famine, plagues, and war, because population growth would surpass food production. 

 

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)

Widely used after the second world war to restrict fishing

1936

The United States Flood Control Act

This Act introduced welfare economics into the practical world of decision making.  It initiated the idea of CBA.  Projects could be assessed on the basis of calculating their net benefit and then in the context of the entire social assessment of that net benefit.

1962

Origins of spring

Rachel Carsens Article considered the detrimental effect pesticides were having on the environment, and especially on birds and was influential in the eventual banning of DDT

1968

Tragedy of the commons

Publicised by Garret Hardins in his
1968 Science article "The Tragedy of the Commons”

1968

The population Bomb

Paul R. Ehrlich predicted disaster in ‘the population bomb’ for humanity due to overpopulation and the population explosion.

1971

Polluter pays the principle

OECD recommends that those causing pollution should pay the costs in a bid to unite the environment and economic elements.

1972

United Nations Conference on the Human Environment

Conference held in Stockholm in 1972.  The conference theme was “Only one Earth”.  It produced 109 recommendations and divided the responsibilities between the existing bodies of WHO, WMO, UNESCO, FAO UNEP was charged with coordinating the work.  It only considered the environmental aspects and in particular pollution

1972

Limits to growth paper

They concluded that:
1) If the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime within the next one hundred years. The most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity.
2. It is possible to alter these growth trends and to establish a condition of ecological and economic stability
That is sustainable far into the future. The state of global equilibrium could be designed so that the basic
material needs of each person on earth are satisfied and each person has an equal opportunity to realize his
Individual human potential.

1973

OPEC oil crisis

This fuels the limits to growth debate

1974

CFC crisis

Rowland and Molina publish in journal Nature that continued use of CFC gases at an unaltered rate would critically deplete the ozone layer

1976

HABITAT

First global meeting to link the environment and human settlement

1980

World Conservation strategy

The phrase ‘Sustainable development’ was first used
Or rather ‘development that is sustainable’

1984

International conference on Environment and Economics (OECD) in ;London

This conference concluded that environment and economics should be mutually reinforcing.  This conference led to the Brundtland report

1987

Our Common Future/Bruntland Report

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)

Brundtland Commission published a seminal report, Our Common Future, which coined and defined the term "sustainable development," fusing environmental and economic sensibilities.
The definition:
"Economic and social development that meets the needs of the current generation without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
Thus bringing together the three aspects of environmental, economic and social development.
‘sustainable development is dependent on each nation achieving its full economic potential while enhancing the environmental resource base upon which development must be based’

1987

Montreal Protocol

International agreement to adopt measures for tackling a global environment problem.  It was implemented partly due to the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in late 1985, and the need to implement stronger measures to reduce the production and consumption of a number of CFCs and some Halogens

1988

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change formed (IPCC)

It was set up to assess the technical issues that were being raised.  Its first report stated that global warming should be taken seriously

1989

Lynam and Herdt definition of sustainability

The capacity of system to maintain output at a level approximately equal to or greater than its historical average, with the approximation determined by the historical level of variability

1990

This common inheritance: Britain’s Environmental Strategy

The ideas from the Bruntland report ‘Our Common Future’ were taken up in the UK's first comprehensive strategy, the White Paper on the Environment This Common Inheritance.

1990

Definition of sustainability

Pearce and Turner (1990) …maximising the net benefits of economic development, subject to maintaining the services and quality of natural resources over time.

1991

Definition of sustainable development

ICUN(1991) Development that improves the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems.

1992

Rio Earth Summit

The Earth Summit was inspired by the Bruntland report in 1987.  Between 1990 and 1992 Agenda 21 was developed to stand as a blueprint for sustainable development in the world.  It considered the interaction between economic, social and environmental trends.  The commission for Sustainable development (CSD) was set up to ensure that Agenda 21 would have an impact at all levels of governance.
Agenda 21 recognised the role of stakeholders in implementing this blueprint.

1992/1993

United National framework on Climate change (UNFCCC)

Introduced to fight global warning at Rio in which it was adopted.
The United Kingdom signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change in June 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit and ratified it in December 1993

1992

European Communities Green paper

Green Paper on the Impact of Transport on the Environment - A Community Strategy for "Sustainable Mobility". COM (92) 46, 20 February 1992

 

1993

Hardins 3 laws of human ecology

1 – ‘we can never do merely one thing’ ( interconnectedness of society).
2 – ‘there’s no away to throw to’ ( an effluent society)
3 – The impact of any group or nation on the environment is represented qualitatively by the relation:
I = P A T ( I = Impact, P = size of population, A is the per capita affluence ( measured by per capita consumption) and T is the measure of the damage done by the technologies that are supplying the consumption.

1994

Aalbourg Charter

Charter of European Cities & Towns Towards Sustainability

1994

Sustainable development: The UK strategy

The UK becomes one of the first countries to produce a sustainable development strategy in response to the call made at Rio.

1994

First UK programme on climate change

After signing the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) the UK Government produced its first Programme on Climate Change, identifying its obligations and commitments to help tackle the problem of global warming.

1995

Creation of the
World business council for sustainable development
(WBCSD)

It was formed in 1995 from the world international conference on environmental management (WICEM) and the Business council on sustainable development (BCSD)

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a coalition of 170 international companies united by a shared commitment to sustainable development via the three pillars of economic growth, ecological balance and social progress.

1995

World summit for social development

This summit expressed a commitment to eradicate poverty

1995

First conference of the parties (cop-1) to the FCCC (UNFCCC)

First conference for all the countries who ratified the convention from the Rio Summit

1996

UK Road Table on Sustainable development first annual report

 

1997

Kyoto Climate change Protocol

Governments met in Kyoto, Japan to look at the problem of global warming. Previous agreements had tried to limit emissions of carbon dioxide to the levels they were in 1990. Many countries had failed to achieve even this small reduction. The UK and Germany met these targets. At Kyoto, a new set of targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases was agreed. By 2012, emissions of six major greenhouse gases must be reduced to below 1990 levels for the target period 2008-2012.

1997

Tony Blair statement on Agenda 21

‘I want all local authorities in the UK to adopt Local Agenda 21 strategies by the year 2000’
Tony Blair, New York, UN General Assembly Special Session on the Environment

1997

Social Exclusion Unit Created

The social exclusion unit was formed in 1997 under the new labour government.  Its aim is …Together, we are working to create prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities for the 21st century - places where people want to live that promote opportunity and a better quality of life for all

1998

Introduction of the New Approach to Appraisal
(NATA)

New approach to Appraisal introduced in UK.  The key criteria are:

  • environmental impact;
  • safety;
  • economy;
  • accessibility
  • integration.

One critical part of this methodology is the use of an appraisal summary table (AST) with summarises the key economic, social and environmental impacts of a scheme.

1998

The EU White paper
Developing the citizens network

Communication of 10 July 1998 from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: “Developing the citizens’ network – Why local and regional passenger transport is important and how the European Commission is helping to bring it about”. ( source: http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l24215.htm)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

1999

A better quality of life, a strategy for sustainable development for the UK

UK Government.  The Strategy defines sustainable development as ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come.  Its 4 main objectives were:

  • social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;
  • effective protection of the environment,
  • prudent use of natural resources;
  • maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment

The Strategy includes a set of indicators which will be at the core of future reports on progress towards sustainable development. These include 14 headline indicators covering everyday concerns including the economy, level of crime, road traffic, education and water quality. Links between indicators such as those between transport, health and the environment underline the need for the indicators to be considered together to show whether we are achieving a better quality of life.
Linked to the headline indicators were a set of indicators which local authorities could use for their agenda 21 plans

1999

Foresight scenarios
Actions for sustainable transport: Optimisation across modes

This report was published by the Integrated transportation chain futures task force (DTI).  It looked at 4 different UK scenarios , world markets, global sustainability, local stewardship and provincial Enterprise and consider how these 4 worlds would develop up to 2020 and what implications these have four certain factors spreading the 3 pillars of sustainability.

1999

Modernising Government White Paper

This white paper committed the UK government to “to produce and deliver an integrated system of impact and appraisal tools in support of sustainable development covering impacts on business, the environment, health and the needs of particular groups in society”.  From this white paper the IPA - the integrated policy appraisal tool - was developed as a tool to help policy makers and improve the quality of appraisal in Government.  From this the regulatory Impact assessment (RIA) was developed which is now the main tool for integrating sustainable development into central Government policy making.  The RIA considers the 3 pillars of sustainability in the appraisal work.

2000

Updates UK climate change programme

The UKs climate change programme was updated in the light of the Kyoto protocol.  It details how the UK is going to meet the Kyoto targets and reduce emissions in each of the sectors of the economy. (DETR, 2000)

2000

Sustainable development website launch

www.sustainable—development.gov.uk
launched. This site was designed to

2000

Guidance document on preparing Regional Sustainable development networks

Guidance on preparing Regional Sustainable Development Frameworks ( UK government)

2001

Mobility 2001
World mobility at the end of the twentieth Century and its sustainability

World Business Council for Sustainable development publication.
This report considered current mobility patterns in the world at the start of the 21st century and then identified those factors that were threatening future sustainable mobility.
It produced a sustainability scorecard for the developed and developing world to assess measures which should be increased decreased.

2002

Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development

Johnnesbourg declaration on sustainable development included the following statement
‘Thirty years ago in Stockholm we agreed on the urgent need to respond to the problem of environmental deterioration.  Ten years ago at the united national conference on environment and development, held in Rio de Janeiro we agreed that the protection of the environment and social and economic development are fundamental to sustainable development, based on the rio principles.  To achieve such development we adopted the global programme entitled Agenda 21 and the Rio declaration on Environment and Development, to which we affirm are commitment’

2003

Sustainable Communities: building for the future
ODPM (2003)

Housing and the local environment are vitally important. But communities are more than just housing. They have many requirements. Investing in housing alone, paying no attention to the other needs of communities, risks wasting money - as past experience has shown.
A wider vision of strong and sustainable communities is needed to underpin this plan, flowing from the Government's strong commitment to sustainable development. The way our communities develop, economically, socially and environmentally, must respect the needs of future generations as well as succeeding now. This is the key to lasting, rather than temporary, solutions; to creating communities that can stand on their own feet and adapt to the changing demands of modern life. Places where people want to live and will continue to want to live.

 

2004

Mobility 2030 meeting the challenges to Sustainability

World Business Council for Sustainable Development
This report followed on from the earlier 2001 and looked ahead to mobility in 2030.  It produced 12 indicators for sustainable development.  This report used the 3 pillars of sustainability as a guide for producing its indicators

 

 

 

 

 

All  26 principles can be found at http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=97&ArticleID=1503

  

Source: http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/projects/sustainability/resources/Origins%20of%20Sustainability.doc

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Key Events in formulation of sustainable development

 

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Key Events in formulation of sustainable development

 

 

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Key Events in formulation of sustainable development