In context of climate change, this is important because of underlying problem with resources demand from population explosion, mostly in developing world. It’s clearly recognised that when they receive benefit of education, people see opportunities other than having lots of babies.
In 1972,before invention of the word “sustainability” – “The Club of Rome raised considerable public attention with its report Limits to Growth, which has sold 30 million copies in more than 30 translations, making it the best-selling environmental book in world history” In October 1987, the Brundtland Commission releasing Our Common Future a plan/document which coined, and defined the meaning of the term “Sustainable Development“. In 2000 UN MDG’s(Millennium Development Goal Report) got much attention, especially with worldwide Live8 music festival and “Make Poverty History”. As MDG 2015 expiry approaches, around 1 billion people still live on less then $1.25 a day – the World Bank measure on poverty – and more than 800 million people do not have enough food to eat. Women are still fighting hard for their rights, and millions of women still die in childbirth.
What are the proposed 17 goals?
1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2) End hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition, promote sustainable agriculture
3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable modern energy
8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all
9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation
10) Reduce inequality within and among countries
11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (taking note of agreements made by the UNFCCC forum)
14) Conserve and sustainably use ocean/sea marine resources for sustainable development 15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss
16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
According to data that member countries presented to United Nations, Cuba was the only nation in the world in 2006 that met the World Wide Fund for Nature‘s definition of sustainable development, with an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita, 1.5, and a Human Development Index of over 0.8, 0.855.[77