What is it?

Sustainable Development in London

Sustainable development is about ensuring we have a better of quality of life now and for the future whilst protecting and enhancing the earth’s resources. Our vision for London articulates how this can be achieved and is contained in ‘A Sustainable Development Framework for London’.

In practice, achieving a better quality of life is about:

• Having access to quality education, jobs, services, housing and leisure;
• Living in an environment which is healthy, resilient and stable now and into the future;
• Living and working within a society which is democratic, just, engaged, diverse, responsible, supportive and vibrant;
• Being fulfilled, healthy and with sufficient personal resources to enjoy life.

Whether as individuals, communities, businesses or governments, our journey towards sustainability means we need to think about the social, economic and environmental impacts of everything we do. We must make the most out of available opportunities, designing out negative impacts and minimising them as a last resort.

Sustainable Development History

Sustainable Development was first officially referred to in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development in its report, ‘Our Common Future’.  Known as the Brundtland Report, after the Chair of the Commission and author, Gro Harlem Brundtland, it defined sustainable development as: ‘development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.  Sustainable Development was formally recognised as a global challenge at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development measured progress against achieving sustainable development since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and set new challenges via a political declaration, an implementation plan and a range of practical measures.

In the United Kingdom, the government produced its sustainable development strategy, ‘Securing the Future’, which includes five principles to underpin how sustainable development will be pursued throughout the UK. The government has established the UK Sustainable Development Commission as the government’s independent watchdog helping to put sustainable development at the heart of UK government policy.