The Concept of Sustainable Development
Manuel Fischer, Daniel Foord, Jan Frecè, Kirsten Hillebrand, Ingrid Kissling-Näf, Rahel Meili, Marie Peskova, David Risi, René Schmidpeter, Tobias Stucki
Abstract
Abstract There are various definitions of sustainable development. However, none is as widely accepted as the one published in 1987 in the report Our Common Future. When we speak of sustainable development, we usually mean the three dimensions of nature, society and economy. These cannot be separated, but seen as elements of a holistic system. Sufficiency, efficiency and consistency are three elementary approaches for a society within planetary boundaries. Since 2015, the Agenda 2030 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals has provided us with a widely used reference framework for global sustainable development.