ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concept of sustainable development and traces its origins to provide a survey of current thinking in sustainable development practice. However, this chapter does more than bridge civil and political rights with economic, social and cultural rights. Underlying our understanding of global justice is a greater awareness of how the pursuit of an improved quality of life has an impact on our ecosystem. Economic development sustained by fossil fuels has a serious impact on the environment and drives cataclysmic transformations, including climate change. Urbanization and deforestation, once hallmarks of development, are also understood to have serious environmental consequences. The chapter complements previous chapter discussions on the environment by critically engaging with the notion of sustainable development. As a key concept adopted by the United Nations in the form of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the chapter also covers how the concept of sustainable development is driving changes in how we practice global justice.
