The term sustainable development gained international recognition after the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) released its report Our Common Future in 1983. In this report, sustainable development was defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources had introduced the term earlier in its 1980 publication World Conservation Strategy, stating, "Development and conservation operate in the same global context, and the underlying problems that must be overcome if either is to be successful are identical." It thus recommended a strategy entitled, "Towards Sustainable Development."

Development refers to any systematic progress toward some improved or advanced condition. In the international development field, in which the term sustainable development is most often encountered, development refers to the establishment of the physical and social...