Sustainable by Design

Abstract

This chapter examines different understandings when using the term “sustainable,” such as in traditional business circles where it means running a business profitably but has no relation to environmental outcomes. It points out that the ambiguity of the term “sustainable” has allowed corporations to pursue business by “greenwashing” their behavior to gain market share. It also defines sustainable development as a development that creates economic, environmental, and social benefits that improve the living standards of current and future generations. The chapter talks about the 1987 Brundtland Report, delivered at the Earth Summit, which gave two key concepts in sustainable development: overriding priority over the essential needs of the world's poor and meeting present and future needs that may be limited by the state of technology and social organization. It elaborates how the concepts recognize that ecological and other crises will persist in a world with widespread poverty and inequity.