Kristin Linnerud

Taking the ethical foundations from the seminal UN Report (1987) Our Common Future, this revised and updated second edition builds a model that emphasizes three equally important moral imperatives – satisfying human needs, ensuring social justice, and respecting environmental limits. The model presented identifies sustainability themes and assigns thresholds to them, defining the space within which sustainable development can be achieved wherein it recognises that different countries face different challenges and must follow different pathways. This revised edition has been brought up to date throughout and contains three new chapters exploring the history of the concept, including the status of the UN SDGs, competing indicators and models of sustainable development, and an overview of global and local changes in the six sustainability themes. It is divided into four parts, each contributing to a deeper understanding of what sustainable development is and what is required to achieve it, including an introduction to key arguments, theoretical foundations and competing models, new empirical knowledge discussing how different countries position themselves in relation to sustainable development, and future directions, offering perspectives on how it can be achieved locally and globally. Building on the extensive literature exploring needs, equity, justice, environmental science, ecology, and economics, this book will be essential reading for everyone interested in the future of sustainable development and in the complex environmental and social issues involved.

Taking the ethical foundations from the seminal UN Report (1987) Our Common Future, this revised and updated second edition builds a model that emphasizes three equally important moral imperatives – satisfying human needs, ensuring social justice, and respecting environmental limits. The model presented identifies sustainability themes and assigns thresholds to them, defining the space within which sustainable development can be achieved wherein it recognises that different countries face different challenges and must follow different pathways. This revised edition has been brought up to date throughout and contains three new chapters exploring the history of the concept, including the status of the UN SDGs, competing indicators and models of sustainable development, and an overview of global and local changes in the six sustainability themes. It is divided into four parts, each contributing to a deeper understanding of what sustainable development is and what is required to achieve it, including an introduction to key arguments, theoretical foundations and competing models, new empirical knowledge discussing how different countries position themselves in relation to sustainable development, and future directions, offering perspectives on how it can be achieved locally and globally. Building on the extensive literature exploring needs, equity, justice, environmental science, ecology, and economics, this book will be essential reading for everyone interested in the future of sustainable development and in the complex environmental and social issues involved.

FNs bærekraftsmål har satt bærekraftig utvikling på dagsorden. Men hva er ideen som målene hviler på? Hvilke verktøy har vi for å omsette målene til handling? Ideen om bærekraftig utvikling er eldre enn bærekraftsmålene og er tett vevd sammen med ideen om rettferdighet: rettferdighet mellom oss som lever i dag og framtidige generasjoner, mellom oss som bor i den rike delen av verden og de fattige, og mellom mennesker og naturen rundt oss. I denne boka gir forfatterne et innblikk i ideens historie og teoriene som fyller ideen med innhold. De presenterer fortellinger som viser hvordan bærekraft kan realiseres, og de gir en oversikt over hvilke verktøy som står til rådighet når politikere, bedrifter og individer vil gi sine bidrag til en bærekraftig utvikling. Skal vi nå bærekraftsmålene, må vi gjennomføre grunnleggende omstillinger av hvordan vi organiserer samfunnene våre og hvordan vi tenker om bærekraft. Her må alle bidra med sine verktøy. Til slutt minner forfatterne om at bærekraft er noe vi bør strekke oss etter. Det er ingen som tvinger oss - vi kan velge en annen vei, en annen idé. Eller kan vi det? Erling Holden er professor ved Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet. Kristin Linnerud er professor ved Høgskulen på Vestlandet, og forsker ved CICERO, senter for klimaforskning.

Thirty years ago, the UN report Our Common Future placed sustainable development firmly on the international agenda. The Imperatives of Sustainable Development takes the ethical foundations of Our Common Future and builds a model that emphasizes three equally important moral imperatives – satisfying human needs, ensuring social justice, and respecting environmental limits. This model suggests sustainability themes and assigns thresholds to them, thereby defining the space within which sustainable development can be achieved. The authors accept that there is no single pathway to the sustainable development space. Different countries face different challenges and must follow different pathways. This perspective is applied to all countries to determine whether the thresholds of the sustainability themes selected have been met, now and in the past. The authors build on the extensive literature on needs, equity, justice, environmental science, ecology, and economics, and show how the three moral imperatives can guide policymaking. The Imperatives of Sustainable Development synthesizes past reasoning, summarizes the present debate, and provides a clear direction for future thinking. This book will be essential reading for everyone interested in the future of sustainable development and in the complex environmental and social issues involved.

Thirty years ago, the UN report Our Common Future placed sustainable development firmly on the international agenda. The Imperatives of Sustainable Development takes the ethical foundations of Our Common Future and builds a model that emphasizes three equally important moral imperatives – satisfying human needs, ensuring social justice, and respecting environmental limits. This model suggests sustainability themes and assigns thresholds to them, thereby defining the space within which sustainable development can be achieved. The authors accept that there is no single pathway to the sustainable development space. Different countries face different challenges and must follow different pathways. This perspective is applied to all countries to determine whether the thresholds of the sustainability themes selected have been met, now and in the past. The authors build on the extensive literature on needs, equity, justice, environmental science, ecology, and economics, and show how the three moral imperatives can guide policymaking. The Imperatives of Sustainable Development synthesizes past reasoning, summarizes the present debate, and provides a clear direction for future thinking. This book will be essential reading for everyone interested in the future of sustainable development and in the complex environmental and social issues involved.