R. Harding (2006), 'Ecologically Sustainable Development: Origins, Implementation and Challenges', Desalination, 187, pp. 229–39.

The concept of"sustainability" has been much discussed over the past 17 years. Despite millions of articles, thousands of proposed definitions and the attention of a very large number of government and non-government bodies around the

world, sustainability remains a contested concept. We seem unable to agree on exactly what sustainability means and how the concept should be interpreted in particular situations.