Sustainable Development: Confronting the Danger of Humanity

In 2015, the United Nations launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, making this slogan the most widely circulated to attract the attention of international institutions in supporting government projects, private institutions, and civil society organizations worldwide. Despite the ongoing promotional campaigns, this term remains unclear to a significant segment of citizens from all sectors, while it should be transformed into a culture and daily practice for every individual in the society. For this slogan to become a true and practical reality, this article provides a historical overview of the concept of sustainable development and the discussions that accompanied its development, including its economic, social, and political implications up to today. This presentation aims to provide a scientific definition and clarification of the evolution of sustainable development as a term and principle to establish a clear and accurate roadmap that reaches all segments of society for actual implementation, especially since recent UN reports indicated that development is still not implemented in most countries, particularly in Lebanon and other Arab countries or what are known as third-world countries, for several reasons, the most important of which is the absence of monitoring, statistics, and effective advocacy for development. Therefore, "Dialectic" will study these causes in the next phase and work on providing suggestions, initiatives, studies, and plans on opportunities for achieving actual sustainable development in this sector.

The German Employee Coined the Term

The term "sustainable development" first appeared in the 17th century in Europe through Carl von Carlowitz, a German official responsible for mining at the Saxon Court in Freiberg, Germany. Carlowitz criticized the excessive exploitation and destruction of forests for mining and metal production, which led him to invent the idea of "sustainable use" of forests by advocating for the cutting of a large number of trees that could be reforested through organized replanting projects. Carlowitz’s sustainability theory was based on the principle that for humans to continue benefiting from natural resources, meaning "sustainable use," they must plan systematically and carefully; otherwise, these resources will disappear over time and no longer be available. This theory served as the first warning to humans about the necessity of abandoning the idea of dominance over nature and the need to live according to its rules to ensure sustainability, meaning continuity and preservation from destruction.

Population Growth as a Danger to the Environment

Discussions continued about the necessity to interpret and develop the principle and term of development to keep pace with the increasing challenges that were starting to take shape on all fronts. Perhaps the most prominent discussion that dominated for many years was whether "the earth's limited resources can keep up with population growth." Between 1789 and the early 1800s, some scientists warned of "the danger of rapid population growth that is likely to exceed the capacity of natural resources to meet the needs of this increase." Karl Polanyi, a former politician in Hungary and an economist, who is considered one of the most prominent scholars in social and economic studies in the 20th century, wrote: "Sustainability represents the self-protection of society against the destructive forces of the market."

From here, scientists warned of a tragedy that would befall humans if no measures were taken to monitor the accelerating population growth rates. The fear of financial collapse due to the economic problems that increased in the 21st century also made sustainability target everything in society that could collapse.

In 1972, discussions began on whether the global economy was "sustainable" through the study of data and statistics on growth rates, industrial production, and pollution. The most significant event in that year was the official adoption of the term sustainable development by the United Nations at the "Human Environment" conference held in Stockholm.

The 1987 Brundtland Report

In 1987, the "World Commission on Environment and Development" called for achieving sustainable development in what became known as the "Brundtland Report" (named after its chairwoman, Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Prime Minister of Norway at that time) with the title "Our Common Future." This report institutionalized the term "sustainable development" to become the official framework for the United Nations to achieve the three pillars of development, which are:

1. Economic growth that achieves economic sustainability.
    
2. Environmental protection that achieves environmental sustainability.
    
3. Social justice that achieves social sustainability.
    

Agenda 21

In 1992, conferences, plans, and discussions culminated in the launch of "Agenda 21" at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. One of the conference's main recommendations was the emphasis on "making sustainable development a priority on the international community's agenda and the necessity for national strategies to address the economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainable development."

Johannesburg Plan of Action

In 2002, the "World Summit on Sustainable Development," known as "Rio+10," aimed to review "the progress made in achieving the outcomes of the Rio Earth Summit on Agenda 21," which became known as the "Johannesburg Plan."

In 2012, the "United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development," known as "Rio+20," focused on two main themes for achieving sustainable development:

1. Green Economy.
    
2. Institutional Framework.
    

The conference issued a document titled "The Future We Want," which included recommendations on how to manage sustainable resources to achieve sustainable growth for sustainable communities, focusing on how to utilize land, manage water, agricultural activities, energy use, education, equal opportunities, and the development and application of laws.

Since the adoption of the principle of sustainable development in the 17th century to the launch of the 2030 Agenda in 2015, and the conferences that followed, UN reports still talk about gaps between the recommendations of organizations on how to achieve sustainable development and the reality for several reasons, and discussions continue about the need for a clearer practical framework for development plans.