Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This foundational definition was established by the United Nations in 1987 through the Brundtland Commission's report "Our Common Future", and it has since become the cornerstone principle guiding global environmental and social policy.
The concept embodies intergenerational equity, recognising that current resource use and environmental degradation decisions have lasting consequences for those who will inhabit the planet in decades and centuries to come. At its core, sustainable development seeks to balance three interconnected dimensions: economic prosperity, environmental protection, and social equity. This balance ensures that development initiatives create value and improve quality of life whilst preserving the natural capital and social systems that future generations will depend upon.
In the context of Life Cycle Assessment, sustainable development provides the overarching goal that justifies the comprehensive evaluation of products and services across their entire life cycles. LCA methodologies align with sustainable development principles by systematically assessing environmental impacts, resource depletion, and social consequences to inform decisions that avoid shifting burdens between life cycle stages, geographical regions, or generations.
The principle of sustainable development connects directly to welfare economics when wellbeing is sought to be maximised amongst equal and autonomous agents in and across generations. In this framework, the goal of welfare economics becomes functionally identical to the goal of sustainable development, providing an economic rationale for considering long-term impacts and intergenerational fairness in decision-making processes.
