What does it expect to do in the future?  What are its aspirations? 
People talk about sustainable development in very vague terms "meeting
the needs of current generations etc, etc" without ever really saying
what this translates as in reality...would like to know.  How would it
make the world look in the future?  In what way would the world be a
different place to how it is now?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 29 Jul 2004 04:30 PDT

Are you familiar with the documents known as "Agenda 21".

These are the "official" international goals that address the
environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development?

If not, I can post some information about Agenda 21 as an answer to
your question, if that would suit you.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by sissums-ga on 29 Jul 2004 05:50 PDT

Already familiar with Agenda 21, UNCED, Kyoto, Jo'burg etc etc.

Want to know without going into vast amounts of detail that if you
actually wanted to explain to someone in as SIMPLE and CONCISE a way
possible what the ultimate goal behind sustainable development
was...what would you say?

I'm not sure what I will say, but I will start and hope for correct
inspiration. Our planet seems all but certain to increase in human
population over the next 5 years, and a signifcant decrease is
unlikely in the 21 st century. So we need to prepare for 7 billion,
perhaps 12 billion humans. In some countries, resourses are woefully
inadequite for the year 2000 population. A major change is to raise
the living standards of perhaps 3 billion humans from poverty to
marginal. We made a percentage improvement 1945 to 2003, but
population increases have increased the number of poorby newer
definitions of poor if not by older definitions. Some experts think
our task is impossible, unless the population is halved by disaster
gennoide or other means that are really ugly. A few think wealth can
be distributed from the rich and middle class, but the more realistic
agree that there is not enough wealth and productivity would drop
sharply following such a distribution.
 Science and technology have increased rapidly 1945 to 1990, but less
so recently in areas important to providing food, health care and safe
drinking water to the 3 billion humans in poverty.  Neil

Neilzero,

In my educated opinion the goal of sustainable development is to allow
us, the human race, to progress (by increasing our standard of living
by using technology, etc) without necessarily depleting the resources
that we currently have. In other words, the future generations should
have equitable access to resources that we enjoy now.  Intrinsic to
this is the notion of slow, careful growth, without the introduction
of shocks to the environment, which would destabilize it.

This is the way I would explain it to the average person.

I hope that helps,
Claudietta

...my comment was obviously intended for sissums, not nealzero.  

Claudietta