Abstract
Since its introduction into mainstream environmental thought via the Brundtland Commission report (Brundtland 1987), the meaning of the term ‘sustainable development’ has seemingly acquired several connotations based on its broad definition. One is that, to many environmentalists, sustainable development is desirable only if it means economic development without growth. This position is exemplified by economist Daly (1993) who writes:
In its physical dimensions the economy is an open subsystem of the earth ecosystem, which is finite, nongrowing, and materially closed. As the economic subsystem grows it incorporates an ever greater proportion of the total ecosystem into itself and must reach a limit at 100 percent, if not before. Therefore its growth is not sustainable….The term ‘sustainable development’ therefore makes sense for the economy, but only if it is understood as development without growth-i.e., qualitative improvement of a physical economic base that is maintained in a steady state by a throughput of matter-energy that is within the regenerative and assimilative capacities of the ecosystem.
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Reichart, J.E., Werhane, P.H. (1995). Sustainable Development and Economic Growth. In: Westra, L., Lemons, J. (eds) Perspectives on Ecological Integrity. Environmental Science and Technology Library, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0451-7_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0451-7_16
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