International Law For Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (IISD, par. 1 ).

“...the core values that underpin sustainable development - interdependence, empathy, equity, personal responsibility and intergenerational justice - are the only foundation upon which any viable vision of a better world can possibly be constructed.” Jonathon Porritt

Sustainable development encompasses many various meanings, however the most frequently used definition originates from the Brundtland report (WCED, 1987, p.43) defining it as ‘’a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’’. The Kyoto protocols and European trading systems are seen as mediums to ensure resource management, helping in preserving for future use. However the definition is ever evolving as according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (2004) it didn’t include a time horizon for future generations, provides no manifestation of the part played by the environment as it’s solely economical, and cites to the hazy concept of human needs. Subsequently an array of definitions of sustainable, in its most basic it’s defined as conserving development over time.

Sustainability can be defined as the development of present needs that wouldn’t hinder the development of future needs in an environment. Sustainability main focus is on preserving the natural resources of an economy, it is not a fixed state of harmony but a continuous process of change where the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, orientation of technological development and institutional change are made consistent with present and future investments.(UNCED, 1978). Mohan Munasinghe posited that the goal of Sustainable development is to maximize the net welfare of economic activities while maintaining or increasing the stock of economic, ecological and socio cultural assets overtime to ensure the sustainability of income and Intra generational equity and providing a safety net to meet basic needs and protect the poor.

Sustainable development takes into consideration the restricted resources and urban growth boundary along with the greatly increased human life span, which is one of the main reasons sustainable development is so important. However, although environmental sustainability is important, it isn’t the only element which is crucial to account for, as economic and social sustainability also fit within the parameters of sustainable development and

From the analysis and interpretation done of Yasuaki's paper on international law and it applicability, there is the profound emphasis on the need for having validity behind the international laws and this is touted to be more important than efficacy of the international laws. This focus on validity is argued widely to be the driving force behind the applicability and the efficiency of international law.

It is our responsibility to assure the Earth’s ecological balance. In United Nations’ proposal “The Earth Charter”, UN appeals to us to protect Earth’s ecological systems, cautiously using natural resources, promote ecological sustainability.

Backing up the history of conceptual Sustainable Development discussed during the lectures and tutorials, which as a term was first used in the book “Limits to Growth” during 1972, in which it was argued that the world will face major ecological collapse in the next 100 years if the resource consumption continued in the current trend. At latter stage, formally the “World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)”, that aimed to collectively bring countries to pursue a sustainable development. Brundtland Commission had published “Our Common Future” also known as the “Brundtland Report”, in which it states that a development should be able to meet the present needs in a much wider sense

This article is published by UNEP. The UNEP is the leading global environmental authority to sets the global environmental agenda, and supports for global environment to create sustainable development in the United Nations system. Their goal is to provide leadership and increase awareness for future generation by encourage partnership between environment and human to improve people 's quality of life. They are strongly aimed for sustainable development which try to meet the needs and create good quality of life without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Elliot (1993: 3) suggests that sustainable development in the future requires actions for change at all levels, including interventions in physical, political-economic and social processes. Thus in 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) had put forward that global cooperation and mutually supportive actions between countries at different stages of economic development were to of central importance in their report entitled Our Common Future. In 1989, the UN General Assembly decided to call an Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The basic aim of the summit was to discuss environmental issues at a global level.

In this report, the World Commission on Environment addresses interdependence of nations and marriage of economy and ecology in sustainable development. It suggests social and gender equity, reduction of poverty, redistribution of wealth to be able to formulate basic strategies for environmental conservation in developing and developed countries. This book is the first manifesto and the starting point of many articles and books about sustainability.

Then, I will evaluate various perspectives on attaining sustainable development.  Lastly, I will argue in support of two paradigm shifts necessary for serious implementation of public policy initiatives aimed at its promotion.

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the

The United Nations (UN) Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 led to the proposal for sustainable development goals. The focus of this paper will be on Goal 14, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, n.d.).

The United Nations has recently worked on establishing goals each with specific targets regarding sustainable development. Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, and its associated targets will be analysed for measurability and thoroughness.