What this lesson teaches
I can explain sustainable development, how its three dimensions depend on each other, and where they conflict.
Syllabus 9173, Topic 1.1, 1. Understanding Sustainable Development. What is sustainable development?
Make a guess
A factory earns large profits but pumps groundwater faster than rain refills it. Nearby poor households start losing their wells. Is it sustainable?
- It cannot be judged until the aquifer is empty.
- No. It takes poor people's water and future supply.
- Yes, because rain keeps refilling groundwater each year.
- Yes, because its benefits exceed its costs.
Show the answer
No. It takes poor people's water and future supply.
Sustainable development puts the essential needs of poor people first and works within limits. Pumping beyond refill uses up the aquifer future users depend on.
Sustainable development meets needs today while protecting future people's ability to meet theirs.
Sustainable development asks whether people can meet their needs now and in the future. The essential needs of poor people come first: safe water, food, shelter and a secure way to earn a living.
It combines three kinds of goal. Economic goals include jobs and production. Social goals include health and fair access. Environmental goals include healthy ecosystems. The aim is to improve all three, because they depend on each other. Clean water supports health, healthy workers support production, and income can pay for water treatment.
A trade-off is when chasing one goal makes another harder. A mine may create jobs but damage a water supply. Adding up profits does not show who loses water or whether the damage can be fixed.
There are limits. Current technology limits how well materials can be reused and pollution treated. The environment also has limits. An aquifer, or underground water store, cannot keep supplying more water than rain refills. New ideas may help, but plans must work within real limits.
- Sustainable development
- Meet needs now and later, especially of the poor.
- Trade-off
- One goal gained at another's cost.
- Two limits
- Current technology and environmental capacity.
Step by step
Find the needs
Whose essential needs does it meet?
Link the dimensions
How does an economic change affect people and nature?
Check the future
Can losses be repaired, and who pays?
Real examples to use
Brundtland Report, 1987
This UN report defined sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
Worked example: A thirsty factory
A made-up factory creates jobs but pumps groundwater faster than rain refills it. Recycling its water could protect nearby wells. It is only sustainable if pumping stays within limits and local families can still afford safe water.
Watch out for this
A project is sustainable if its money benefits exceed its costs.
A money total can hide people who lose out and damage future generations cannot undo.
Check your understanding
Which evidence most weakens the claim that the factory is sustainable?
- The factory earns large profits and pays its taxes.
- Poor households nearby lose safe water as pumping exceeds refill.
- The factory uses old pumps alongside some modern equipment.
Show the answer
Poor households nearby lose safe water as pumping exceeds refill.
Yes. Essential needs are harmed and the limit is exceeded.