It would probably be a good place to start, explaining just what sustainability is and why it’s so important.
It first received major international recognition in 1992 with Agenda 21 at the Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit on Environment and Development and is now commonplace in environmental legislation in many nations around the world. The most common definition comes from the Brundtland Report in 1987 which stated:
‘Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’
This encompasses environmental, social and economic elements which, when balanced, lead to sustainable development. Most commonly, there is a preference for economic development at the expense of environmental and sometimes social elements, which has arguably led us to the position we as a global population find ourselves in.
Agenda 21 was the first attempt to push sustainable development as a viable form of development. It included goals such as combating poverty and fighting deforestation and has paved the way for a number of further international sustainable development summits.
The most recent global sustainability summit was in 2015, the United Nations announced the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with the aim to create a more sustainable world. The full list of Sustainable Development Goals can be found here.
Achieving sustainable development is critical in ensuring a viable future for future generations. It’s about keeping average global temperatures below the 2℃ ceiling. It’s about reducing the level of poverty in countries around the world. Sustainable development is vital to ensure a better future for those that follow us and it is only going to become increasingly important as time goes on.
Think Sustainability 