| At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders committed themselves to the goal of sustainable development. The term sustainable development has since entered into everyday language, and yet it remains an elusive concept. Indeed, it is now used by governments, industry, and non-governmental organizations to mean almost anything they want it to mean. However, in truth, it is a very simple idea. Before the Rio Summit, WWF, along with our partner organizations IUCN–The World Conservation Union and UNEP, published Caring for the Earth, a report subtitled “A strategy for sustainable living”. We defined sustainable development as “improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems”, and this definition... |
