ABSTRACT
Sustainability entered the lexicon of political discourse in the mid-twentieth century in contrast to the hegemonic discourse of industrialism (Dryzek 2005: 13). The preoccupation with sustainability, broadly defined as the potential of an ecosystem to subsist over time, was not new (Roboratti 1999 cited in Baker 2006: 7), but by the late 1960s global awareness of the impact of economic activity on the environment had increased. Particularly apparent was the environmental damage from the heavy reliance of the industrialized world on fossil fuels as the source of energy. Evidence grew that environmental degradation was the result of complex, interrelated problems and that many groups were affected, often at a considerable distance from the location of the industrial or agricultural processes degrading the environment. It became apparent to the international community that national governments were unable to deal with the trans-boundary implications of environmental degradation consequent upon the model of economic growth adopted in the developed world. Economists predicted that the same approach would be adopted in the developing world, bringing greater competition for diminishing resources and increasing the extent of environmental degradation.
