ABSTRACT
Discussion Questions and Problems .................................................................... 607 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 607
18.1 Introduction In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development defined the term 'sustainable development' as the guiding principles for meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Similarly, the European Union defined sustainable development as a vision of progress that integrates immediate and longer-term needs, local and global needs, and regards social, economic, and environmental needs as inseparable and interdependent components of human progress. In these definitions, the general terms, guiding principles and vision of progress,
are used because sustainable development is a complex process with no specific steps applicable to every situation.
