ABSTRACT
Sustainable development forms one of the objectives of the Millennium Declaration.1 The Stern Review on climate change concluded that the cost of failing to take action to reduce our impact on the environment could amount to between 5 and 20 per cent of global GDP.2 At its participation at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, 2002, the Commission noted the potential positive force of globalisation in the area if coupled with good governance and effi cient management of interdependence.3 According to the European Commission (EC), sustainable development constitutes ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.4 This therefore necessitates the consideration of economic, social and environmental goals in equal proportion, whilst maintaining democracy, peace, security and liberty.
