Jurisdiction(s):
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Key definition

Sustainable definition

What does Sustainable mean? In legal practice, sustainable describes policies, projects, procurement and investments that meet present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs, by conserving finite resources, preventing environmental harm and balancing social and economic factors. There is no single statutory definition of sustainable across England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The term is descriptive and applied within specific regimes, including: planning and environmental law (objectives of sustainable development; EIA/SEA), public sector duties (for example, the Well‑being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 sustainable development principle), and corporate/finance regulation (green claims and disclosure). In Ireland, usage is likewise descriptive, but certain EU...

Sustainable development: definition, international institutions, policy instruments, legal application and case law, SDGs and critiques

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

The basic definition

The scope of Sustainable development continues to be widely debated. The most familiar articulation emerged in 1987, when the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development (UNCED) issued Our Common Future, better known as the Brundtland Report. It portrays sustainable development as progress that fulfils current needs without jeopardising the capacity of future generations to fulfil theirs. Embedded within this are two central ideas:

the notion of needs, particularly the basic needs of the world’s poor, which should command overriding priority
the recognition of limits set by technology and social organisation on the environment’s capacity to satisfy present and future needs

Most interpretations of sustainable development draw on elements of this Brundtland formulation; at the very least, it serves as the point of departure for the majority of definitions. Discussion also references adoption and evolution of the definition and concept by international institutions, including the UN General Assembly in 1987, the same year the Brundtland Report was published...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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