What is Sustainable Development?

Over the years, we have heard the phrase "sustainable development" more and more. The need to embrace sustainable methods has become even clearer as public knowledge of climate change has grown. As humans, it is very important to rethink our individual, social and institutional habits in order to use the resources of our world in the right way.

We will discuss the definition of sustainable development, the UN's goals, and the background of sustainability in this article.

What Does Sustainable Development Mean?

As a result of the ecological crises that started to be experienced in the world after the industrial revolution, we had to rethink our development models when we came to the end of 20th century. In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainable development in a document called the ‘Brundtland Report’ as follows: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

In the 1990s, the concept of “sustainable development" became increasingly popular. In its broadest definition, “sustainable development" is the name given to rethinking economic and social structures through the interaction of the environment. Sustainable development is based on looking at issues such as business models, lifestyle, economic structures, production, social development from the perspective of ‘sustainability’. Sustainable development is a holistic approach and focuses on protecting the right to life of future generations by looking at economic development and growth from the sustainability framework.

History of Sustainable Development

The modernization accelerated by the industrial revolution brought a rapid ecological destruction along with it. Major socio-economic changes such as increased fossil fuel consumption, industrialization, urbanization have brought environmental damages along with them. This modernization accelerated after the World War II. During this period, increased consumption brought an uncontrolled development process along with it. The environmental impacts of development have been ignored, especially by the states focusing on a rapid growth.

Today when we say ’development', we are still mostly talking about increasing the national income per capita. However, these development models, which focus only on economic growth, have caused environmental decimation by ignoring the correlation between the environment and development.

This development strategy, which disregards the long term and ecological balance, has also contributed to climate change by promoting the unplanned use of fossil fuels with limited resources. In our rapidly modernizing world, problems such as global warming, extinct generations, pollution of water resources, unplanned urbanization have begun to emerge. This situation made it clear that development models need to be reconsidered.

And the sustainable development theory model was actually born right here. We have started to think about the idea of development in a sustainable framework in order to leave future generations with a livable world and to take precautions against the climate crisis.
As we mentioned above, the fundamentals of sustainable development were laid in the Brundtland Report published by the United Nations in 1987. This report has also become one of the first determinants of a sustainability-based economic model. With the Brundtland Report, we began to consider the environment, the economy, and society as a whole. The report framed how a long-term and lasting economic growth can be achieved by protecting the environment at the same time.

What are the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?

The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs for short, were set out in the UN General Assembly in September 2015, and since January 2016, many nations have begun to adopt the SDGs.

SDGs are a call for action. SDGs contain the goals that the member states of the United Nations are intended to achieve by 2030. In total, SDGs include 17 goals and 169 sub-goals. SDGs envision collaborations between governments, businesses, and civil society. The main goals of the SDGs are to end poverty, protect the environment and take measures against the climate crisis. SDGs target a fair distribution of welfare. SDGs are inclusive and guiding. SDGs are considered as a ‘guiding framework’ developed for states, sectors, civil society and academia.

The SDGs also focus on gender equality, taking care of the needs of disadvantaged groups, reducing food waste, combating desertification and drought, and protecting biodiversity. While prosperity is increasing and economies are growing, the goal is to take into account the social and environmental impacts of development. SDGs appear as comprehensive and holistic goals in this sense.

So what are the SDGs?

What are the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?

Goal 1: No Poverty
Due to poverty, millions of people around the world are unable to access the requirements of basic human rights such as health care, education and clean water. ‘No Poverty’ is the first goal of the SDGs, which has the target to meet basic human needs. The goal has the target to ensure that all people in the world have access to the basic human rights set out in the declaration of human rights, such as food, housing, healthcare and education.
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Goal 2: Zero Hunger
'Zero Hunger’ is the second goal of the SDGs and the goal refers to ending hunger all over the world. This goal, which takes into account the right of every person to food security and good nutrition, also supports sustainable agriculture.

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
This goal covers social welfare by stating that everyone has access to healthcare services and can have a life of quality anywhere in the world.

Goal 4: Quality Education
The goal targets every person to receive good education. The goal covers not only school-age children, but also ensuring that all people have access to quality education for life.

Goal 5: Gender Equality
The purpose of the goal is to end all forms of violence and exploitation of women and girls, and to end gender-based discrimination. The goal also underlines that economic development will gain momentum with the empowerment of women.

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
This SDG has the purpose of efficient use of water resources in addition to accessing clean water, which is a basic human right. The goal covers the issue of water scarcity and the right to access clean water. The purpose of the goal is to produce holistic solutions to the problems of water scarcity and drought, which threaten many regions of the world (and Turkey) along with global warming.

Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
The goal has the purpose of ensuring that every person in the world has access to energy and includes the goal of clean energy.
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Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
The goal targets a stable and sustainable economic growth.

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
The goal targets to support sustainable industries and to strengthen innovation.

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
The purpose of the goal is to ensure that every person in the world has access to energy and includes the goal of clean energy. This goal also targets reducing inequality between countries.

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Half of the world's population lives in cities. Urbanization is increasing gradually. The goal of building sustainable cities unites local governments and international common sense.

Goal12: Responsible Consumption and Production
This goal encourages sustainable production and targets to get people adopt sustainable consumption habits.

Goal13: Climate Action
The purpose of the goal is to take urgent action to prevent the climate crisis.

Goal 14: Life Below Water
The goal aims to prevent marine pollution, protect water resources and biodiversity in the seas.

Goal 15: Life On Land
This goal aims to protect terrestrial ecosystems and support their sustainable use, while also preventing desertification and prevent biodiversity loss.

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
The goal covers the targets of ensuring everyone's access to justice, building strong institutions and allocating peace. The goal also underlines that sustainable development is not possible in environments of violence and conflict.

Goal 17: Partnerships For The Goals
The goal sets a global partnership goal by suggesting that sustainable development is not possible without partnership, cooperation and common mind.

The Importance of Sustainable Development

Sustainable development aims to assist countries in adapting to the challenges posed by climate change while also assisting in the preservation of important natural resources for future generations.

The world's population will reach 9 billion people by 2050. Sustainable development includes taking the right steps to prevent the climate crisis, while creating an economic development model that supports a growing population. In response to the increase in national income per capita and growth-oriented economic policies that ignore environmental impacts, sustainable development is a broad approach from access to justice to decontamination of water resources. It is of great importance to implement this holistic and inclusive understanding in order to leave a livable world for future generations.

For more information about the studies we carry out on sustainability at Enerjisa, click here.