The most common definition of sustainable development comes from the Commission on Environment and Development, commonly known as the Brundtland report (1987) - ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. This definition basically means that each generation should not take more than its fair share of natural resources and should consider the long term impacts of its actions on future generations.

Economic and social development is dependent on a healthy and functioning environment. In the same way that each country produces financial accounts, we also need to measure our other assets in the form of natural, social, human and physical capital. Our economy depends on supplies of natural resources and on the environment's ability to absorb all the wastes that we generate. At the moment we are using the planet’s resources faster than they can be renewed. In fact, the amount of resources that we use in a year exceeds the planet’s ability to regenerate by about 50 per cent (See the WWF Living Planet Report for more information). If we continue to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at the same rate as the present, we will impose huge burdens on future generations.

Sustainable development is a continuous process of environmental, social and economic development which aims to deliver wellbeing for people now and in the future. Sustainability is about considering economic, environmental and social concerns together and identifying synergies and trade offs. Comhar SDC has developed Principles for Sustainable Development to be used in policy and decision making.

Comhar SDC Principles for Sustainable Development

1. The use of non-renewable resources should be minimised.
2. Use of hazardous/polluting substances and wastes created should be minimised; waste management should be environmentally sound.
3. Renewable resources should be used within the capacity for regeneration.
4. The quality of soils and water resources should be maintained and improved.
5. The diversity of wildlife, habitats and species should be maintained and improved.
6. Air and atmosphere should be protected and human induced effects on climate minimised.
7. The development of resource potential in one region should not compromise the ability of other regions to achieve their own potential.
8. Social inclusion should be promoted to ensure an improved quality of life for all.
9. Sustainable development depends on co-operation and agreement between states.
10. The quality of landscapes, the heritage of the man-made environment and historic and cultural resources should be maintained and improved.
11. Decision-making should be devolved to the appropriate level.
12. Stakeholder participation should be promoted at all levels of decision making.

Sustainable Development in Ireland

Ireland published its first National Sustainable Development Strategy in 1997. This was revised in 2002 in the run-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ireland is currently preparing a renewed Framework for Sustainable Development in Ireland. It will outline key objectives in areas such as climate change, biodiversity, public health and social inclusion.

In 2007, Comhar SDC published a set of comprehensive recommendations to feed into this renewed Framework for Sustainable Development in Ireland. One of the recommendations was to publish an appropriate set of sustainable development indicators to provide a basis of measuring progress on sustainability and a means to effectively communicate progress. Comhar SDC has conducted preliminary work on national and local indicator sets.

Timeline for Sustainable Development

This timeline shows key milestones in setting the Sustainable Development policy agenda both internationally and in the EU.

• Following the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, 178 UN countries committed, under the title of Agenda 21, to take action globally and locally to promote sustainable development, focusing on such issues as addressing poverty, protecting the environment, maintaining biological diversity, promoting human health and equality.
• The EU incorporated sustainable development as a fundamental objective through including it in the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997.
• At the Gothenburg Summit in June 2001, EU leaders launched the first EU Sustainable Development Strategy.   
• The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, assessed global change since Rio in 1992.
• The EU Sustainable Development Strategy was revised in 2006. The Strategy outlines objectives and actions under seven priority areas including climate change and clean energy, sustainable transport, sustainable consumption and production, conservation and management of natural resources, public health, social inclusion and global poverty and development issues.
• In July 2009 the Commission adopted the Review of EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Sustainable Development Indicators are used to monitor the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and are available on the Eurostat website and published in a report every two years.