EQUITABLE

To date, nearly 20% of the men use 85% of the resources world (all confused resources, mainly economic).
Also, while following the same diagram, if the developing countries (“Countries of the South”) adopted the same development, the resources planet gear would not be enough. The whole of the natural resources would be exhausted, thus involving the destruction of our environment and, a social conflict between the men (conflicts of interest, food, of life, etc).
It is clear that this future appears improbable in our company, but realistic on the scale of the Earth.
This is why the concept of sustainable development was set up. To answer the following question: “How to meet the present needs without limiting the capacity of the future generations to satisfy their own needs? ”
Historically, sustainable development was born at the time of the Conference of the United Nations on the environment of 1972, in Stockholm, in Sweden. The following elements were approached:
- the interdependence enters the human beings and natural environment,
- bonds between social economic development and environmental protection,
- need for a world vision and common principles.
Then, while following this first dash, the world Commission on the environment and the development (the Brundtland Commission) made public, in 1987, a report/ratio asking for a development which makes it possible “to meet the needs for the present without compromising the possibility for the future generations of satisfying theirs”. Moreover, “… sustainable development is not a fixed state of the harmony, but rather a process of evolution during which the exploitation of the resources, the orientation of the investments, the advance of technological development and the institutional transformations are in conformity with our future needs as well as present”.

Concept of sustainable development
“Sustainable development is the development which satisfies the needs for the present generation without depriving the future generations of the possibility of satisfying their own needs”.
Gro Harlem Brundtland was president of the world Commission on the environment and the development, elected by the General meeting of the United Nations, in 1983.
His report/ratio: “Our Common Future” (Our future with all) published in 1987 is one of the documents founders of sustainable development and was used as base with the first top of the Earth in Rio in 1992.
Note: sustainable development is the translation of the English expression “sustainable development”.
The adjective “sustainable” also is translated by bearable, acceptable, is reasoned in order to take into account ethical dimension and the inscription in the time of this concept.
The expression “sustainable development” qualifies, for each actor concerned, a development respecting economic efficiency simultaneously, social equity and the respect of the environment.
Because the development can be durable only if it is at the same time economic, social and environmental, it must be pressed on three pillars:
* an economic pillar, which aims at effectiveness and economic growth targets
 * a social pillar, which aims satisfying the human needs and at meeting aims of equity and social cohesion. It includes in particular the health questions, of housing, consumption, education, employment, culture
* an environmental pillar, which aims to preserve, improve and develop the environment and the natural resources on the long run.

For that, the concept of sustainable development answers three principles:
 Principle of solidarity: solidarity enters the people and the generations. The development must benefit all the populations.
 Precaution principle: to give the possibility of reconsidering actions when their consequences are random or unforeseeable
 Principle of participation: to associate the population with decision makings.
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The essential aspects of sustainable development, on the capacities of planet and the inequalities of access to the resources raise philosophical questions.

Hans Jonas advanced the idea according to which the fact that the economic model of the Occident could not be viable on the long run if it did not become more respectful of the environment. Indeed Jonas posed the idea of a duty with respect to the beings to come, of the potential and “vulnerable” lives that we threaten and gives to the man a responsibility. Since, one of the topics of the philosophy which challenges more our contemporaries is that of the philosophy of the nature, which questions on the place of the man in nature. Thus, in 1987, Michel Serres describes the man like signatory of a contract with nature, recognizing the duties of humanity towards nature.

Jean Bastaire sees the origin of the ecological crisis at Descartes according to which the man was “to be made main and owner of nature”. On the contrary, the geographer Sylvie Brunel criticizes sustainable development because she sees there a design of the man like a parasite, and nature like an ideal. However, for it, the man is often that which protects bio-diversity, where nature is the reign of the law of the strongest, in which “any natural environment delivered to itself is colonized by invasive species”.

Without approaching all the philosophical aspects of them, sustainable development also comprises very important stakes as regards ethics of the businesses. Andre Count-Sponville inter alia tackles the questions of ethics in capitalism is it moral?. Paul Ricœur and Emmanuel Lévinas also did it under the angle of the otherness and Patrick Viveret and Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld on that of social justice.

The French philosopher Michel Foucault tackles these questions on the epistemological level. He speaks about changes of design of the world, which occur at various times of the History. He calls these designs of the world, with the representations which accompany them, of the épistémès. One could undoubtedly affirm that sustainable development, and its corollary universalization, correspond to the concept of épistémè, which, applied to our time, is called hypermodernity by Michel Foucault.

Click here for complete information on the conditions of sustainable development.

The objective of sustainable development is to define viable diagrams and reconciling the three aspects economic, social, and environmental of the human activities; “three pillars” to take into account, by the communities as by the companies and the individuals. To these three pillars is added a transverse stake, essential to the definition and the implementation of policies and actions relating to sustainable development: governorship. The governorship consists of the participation of all the actors (citizens, companies, associations, elected…) with the decision-making process and of this fact a form of participative democracy is. Sustainable development is not a static state of harmony but a process of transformation in which the exploitation of the resources, the choice of the investments, the orientation of the technological changes and institutional are made coherent with the future as with the needs for the present.
The policies implemented starting from this concept of sustainable development are remained very in on this side stakes.
Michel Out recalls in the article which follows what concretely implies for the countries of North and of the South the preoccupation with a respectful development of the future and it attempts to illustrate the conditions of this development in its triple environmental dimension, economic and sociétale.
Click here to visualize the article.

In another article Laurance Tubiana considers that sustainable development becomes a new stake of international coordination. Click here to visualize the article.

One can consider that the objectives are divided between three main categories:

• Those which are to be treated on the scale of planet: relationship between nations, individuals, generations;
• Those which concern the public authorities in each great economic zone (European Union, Latin America, Asia…), through the territorial networks for example;
• Those which concern the responsibility for the companies.
  
Solutions exist: one of most often quoted is the tax carbon which would provide all the signals and incentives necessary for the private individuals, the companies, the States and the innovators. Click here for more information.
It makes debate in the way of applying it so much so that economist and scientist is able from there to be opposed on this crucial point, Cliquez here for more information. with however a point of agreement: pressing need to act known as: Click here for more information.

Creative of great richnesses, strongly consuming resources, and powerful with the international plan, the companies have a capacity of intervention which can appear particularly effective in favour of sustainable development:

• They take part directly in economic development by their investments
• Through the work conditions which they propose with their employees, they take part to create or reduce social inequalities
• Consumers of natural resources, producing of waste and generators of pollution, their activities modify the environment more or less deeply.

For the durable respect of development objectives by the companies, specifically one speaks about social responsibility of the companies (corporate social responsability) or sometimes more precisely responsibility sociétale for the companies since the shutter of responsibility does not correspond solely to the “social” shutter.

The social responsibility of the companies is a concept by which the companies integrate the concerns social, environmental, even of good governance in their activities and their interaction with their recipients on a voluntary basis. There are indeed, until now, few legislative obligations, constraints or penalties: to quote however in France, a relative law with the new economic regulations which obliges the companies quoted on the stock exchange to include in their annual report a series of relative informations to the social consequences and environmental their activities.