ABSTRACT
The concept of sustainable development has been discussed for more than twenty years as a comprehensive and global approach to development, and attempts have been made to implement it through concrete action. This chapter addresses the question of what constitutes the global dimension of the sustainability model, and to what extent it has, or can claim, universal validity. It reflects upon the possibilities and limits of the universal validity of models, using the example of the human rights issue, and of the debate surrounding it. The idea of sustainable development has over the past two decades developed into a formative concept for the academic community, policy-making circles and society as a whole, to the extent that relevant papers, documents and proclamations can hardly be imagined anymore without it. The implementation of inter-generational and intra-generational fairness demands the consistent application of three basic principles of action, which also have global dimensions: the principles of responsibility, of fair distribution, and of cooperation.
