ABSTRACT
The industrial revolution, when looked at as a whole, has brought enormous benefits. According to the normal definition, economic wealth has risen at an almost incredible rate. A good place to start is the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. In this, sustainable development was defined as 'meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs'. Thus we should recast our vocabulary and distinguish growth from development: growth refers to quantitative scale, while development is qualitative improvement. All business activity has to take account of environmental considerations. This has been fully recognized by such bodies as the International Chambers of Commerce, the Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Industry Council on the Environment. Public participation is already rising. In Britain there are more members of environmental and conservation groups than there are members of political parties.
