6.1 What is Sustainable Development?

Initially, the term “sustainability” was used within economics to describe “equilibrium with basic ecological support systems”.^[1]In the 1960s, with the development of industrialization, rapid population growth and other factors, the environment was seriously degraded as a result.In 1964, American biologist Rachel Carson published a book concerning environmental science: Silent Spring.In this book, she discussed sustainable development issues, which inspired a global debate about environmental issues.In 1983, the United Nations established the World Commission on Environment and Development (WECD), which enhanced environmental issues to an important position on the world stage.From this point, sustainable development became a recognized issue of global importance.(https://www.daowen.com)

Sustainable development has been a significant issue since 1987.This was the year, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development published a report Our Common Future which formally proposed the concept of Sustainable Development: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”^[2]In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held in Brazil to discuss the means necessary to implement sustainable development.For the first time, sustainable development was transformed from theory and concept into action.In 2000, the Millennium Declaration, which was placed under the principles of the United Nations Charter, identified sustainable development with economic development, social development and environmental protection.^[3]