sustainable development
The definition comes from the Brundtland Commission report Our Common Future (1987) and was adopted in the Rio Declaration, 1992. In India it is part of the law of the land: in Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum the Supreme Court held that sustainable development, including the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle, is part of environmental law and flows from Articles 21, 47, 48A and 51A(g).
The concept requires a balance between development and environmental protection, not a choice of one over the other. Related principles include intergenerational equity and the public trust doctrine.
Example
Applying sustainable development, the Court ordered the tanneries to install effluent treatment plants rather than closing all industry in the area.
In Indian law
- Articles 21, 48A and 51A(g), Constitution of India
- Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India, 1996 INSC 952: precautionary and polluter pays principles as part of Indian law
See also
precautionary principle · polluter pays principle · public trust doctrine
Read more in the study notes
- Reports: types, importance and company reports (Business Communications)
- Multinational companies, competitive markets and trends in international business (Business Environment)
- Social responsibility of business (Business Environment)
- Corporate social responsibility (Company Law)
- Social audit: meaning, objectives, steps in a social audit programme, the social audit report, advantages and limitations (Cost and Management Accounting)
- India and the WTO: objectives, functions, agreements and impact (Economic Development in India)