In the first chapter of “The Age of Sustainable Development”,
I feel like Sachs does a good job laying out the basic information about
sustainability, how to achieve sustainability goals, and how sustainability is connected
to other global factors such as economic development. When Sachs establishes Brundtland’s
definition of sustainability, I tend to agree with her. Her idea that “sustainable
development is the development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” covers
the general idea that globally consumption and other environmental impacts need
to be kept in check in order to provide for the world now and in the future. I
think this concept is useful normatively. It provides the desirable goal of
sustainable development. Without this, there would be no baseline for what
wise-use was. Even with this definition though, it allows for a lose
interpretation of what is necessary to meet the global needs. The sustainable
development goals that Sachs introduces to us in the chapter do help to provide
some parameters to this definition. Overall, his chapter provided a useful
introduction of sustainability and its interconnectedness globally.
For the research paper, I was thinking about researching either
Iceland or Sweden.
I agree that Sach's multiple definitions for the term sustainability makes it simpler to understand and eventually achieve a plan for sustainable development by working with other factors like the economy and society.
ReplyDeleteThe inclusion of the definition of what sustainability is was a smart decision. I also like how you give your opinion in that you agree but that it there is still some things that need a little more structure. Also your last line sums up your opinion on the chapter as a whole in a nice short and easy to view way.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the Bruntland definition and how it provides a global baseline for better understanding how to achieve sustainable development.
ReplyDeleteThe sustainable development goals for the UN are the focus of the last chapter. They're useful to study too, because they help to clarify how the three major components, environment-society-economy, can become a focus for the practice of international development.
ReplyDelete