Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development With the advent of the industrial revolution in mid-18th century, businesses comprehended the financial return from natural resources and started enhanced use for greater profits. In 1968 Garret Hardin outlined in his essay, ‘Tragedy of Commons’, he observed that individualism is the primary focus of businesses and thus it is against the interest of communities if it results in exhaustion of natural resources. The first conference of United Nations on environment and sustainable development was held in 1972 focusing on human impact on environment and economic development; this resulted in the formulation of the Human Development Index. In 1987, the Brundtland Report, ‘Our Common Future’ resulted in the formulation of the official definition, outlined as, ‘the idea which ensures that human societies must live and meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Since then, there has been a systematic reengineering in understanding and application of sustainable development concept. The path to the present-day state of sustainable development paradigms started with the concept of Triple Bottom line, by John Elkington in 1998. The United nation’s tabling of the ‘Global Compact’ emerged in the famous speech of Kofi Anan, at the World Economic Forum in 1999. This was perhaps the most profound support for sustainability movement at the global level. In 2011, European Commission officially recognized the role of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’, paradigm driven as a voluntary strategy by enterprises to serve the societal aspirations beyond legal obligations. ISO 26000 was first launched in Bangladesh in 2013. In 2000 the landmark commitment under the banner of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) was introduced by the United Nations. Finally, the most comprehensive model was formulated by the United Nations, called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015 which is expected to be incorporated in all national economies by 2030.

Figure 1 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Four Levels
Biosphere (SDG 6, 13, 14, 15)	Society (SDG 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 16)	Economy (SDG 8, 9, 10, 12)	Global Collaboration (SDG 17)
Five Bottom Lines
People	Planet	Prosperity	Partnership	Peace
Seventeen Goals
Goals	Target	Events	Publications	Actions
No Poverty	7	40	33	858
Zero Hunger	8	30	11	778
Good Health and Well-being	13	18	33	722
Quality Education	10	14	6	1231
Gender Equality	9	20	31	963
Clean Water and Sanitation	8	15	30	718
Affordable and Clean Energy	5	11	30	706
Decent Work and Economic Growth	12	40	33	1265
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure	8	29	11	562
Reduced Inequalities	10	25	8	519
Sustainable Cities and Communities	10	30	14	713
Responsible Consumption and Production	11	10	11	943
Climate Action	5	15	31	1138
Life below Water	10	36	36	2051
Life on Land	12	12	29	722
Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions	12	19	9	645
Partnerships for the Goals	19	105	59	1308

[Syed Ferhat Anwar]