Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T02:40:23.436Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is there a meaningful definition of sustainability?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2007

Susan Owens
Susan Owens*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, UK
*
* Correspondence address: Newnham College, Cambridge CB3 9DF, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although the concept of ‘sustainable development’ has been hailed for its reconciliatory poten- tial, it has failed in practice to resolve enduring conflicts. Exploring the evolution of the concept—from its 19th-century antecedents through Brundtland to contemporary ‘Panglossian’ interpretations—the paper argues that difficulties of implementation are not transient but have deep roots. No conception of sustainable development can be adopted without making fundamental ethical and political choices, but the debate about such choices is nevertheless of great importance. It is argued that we should abandon our search for a singular, consensual definition of sustainability, but try as best we can to make progress in the absence of consensus.

Keywords

Brundtland Reportsustainabilityvalues
Type
Research Article
Information
Plant Genetic Resources , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , April 2003 , pp. 5 - 9
Copyright
Copyright © NIAB 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bagehot, W (1856) Dull government. Saturday Review 1(16) (16 February): 287–288.Google Scholar
Bateman, I (1991) Social discounting, monetary evaluation and practical sustainability. Town and Country Planning 60(1): 174–176.Google Scholar
Beck, U (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Berlin, I (1969) Two concepts of liberty. In: Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dahl, R (2000) On Democracy. New Haven, CT and London: Yale Nota Bene.Google Scholar
DETR (Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions) (1998) Opportunities for Change(Consultation paper on a revised UK strategy for sustainable development). London: DETR.Google Scholar
English Nature (1993) Position Statement on Sustainable Development. Peterborough: English Nature.Google Scholar
Evernden, N (1992) Ecology in conservation and conversation. In: Oelschlaeger, M (editor) After Earth Day: Continuing the Conservation Effort. Denton: University of North Texas Press, pp. 73–82.Google Scholar
Foster, J (editor) (1997) Valuing Nature: Economics, Ethics and Environment. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hajer, M (1995) The Politics of Environmental Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hays, S (1987) Beauty, Health and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States 1955–1985. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and WWF (World Wildlife Fund) (1980) World Conservation Strategy. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.Google Scholar
Meadows, DH, Meadows, DL, Randers, J and Behrens, WW III (1972) The Limits to Growth. New York: University Books.Google Scholar
Owens, S (1994) Land, limits and sustainability: a conceptual framework and some dilemmas for the planning system. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers NS 19: 439–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owens, S and Cowell, R (2002) Land and Limits: Interpreting Sustainability in the Planning Process. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pearce, D and Turner, R (1990) Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
Pearce, D, Markandya, A and Barbier, E (1989) Blueprint for a Green Economy. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
Pezzey, J (1992) Sustainable Development Concepts: An Economic Analysis. World Bank Environment Paper No. 2. Washington, DC: The World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinchot, G (1967) The Fight for Conservation. Seattle: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, J (1972) A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shepherd, P and Gillespie, J (1996) Developing Definitions of Natural Capital for Use Within the Uplands of England. Research Report No. 197. Peterborough: English Nature.Google Scholar
UK Government (1994) Sustainable Development: The UK Strategy. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development) (1987) Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wildavsky, A (1993) On the social construction of distinctions: risk, rape, public goods and altruism. In: Hechter, M, Nadel, L and Michod, R (editors) Origin of Values. New York: A. de Gruyter, pp. 47–61.Google Scholar