ABSTRACT
In addition to the three foundation principles for sustainable development outlined in Chapter One, there are a considerable number of other important, second-tier principles, which we refer to here as guiding principles. It is valuable to recap briefly on the three fundamental basic principles for sustainability. Inter-generational equity, or futurity, asserts that each generation is entitled to expect an environmental stock of natural resources of at least equivalent worth to that of preceding generations. Social justice, or contemporary equity, demands that the basic needs of all people are met. Economic and social development should be self-reinforcing, where healthy and well-educated people are economically more productive as well as more fulfilled human beings (WCED 1987). More than this, for poor people, despoliation is most often a necessity forced on them by hunger, whilst starvation itself stems in considerable part from marginalisation within economic systems which exploit the land and people. Transfrontier justice is a recognition that political and administrative boundaries have in the past provided a means for shirking environmental responsibilities, and passing on the costs of environmental damage across boundaries without recompense. The need for global stewardship of the environment needs to be at the heart of the political process at all levels if sustainability is to be achieved.
