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● based on the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987, p. 16),

● based on three pillars (economic, environmental and social),
● based on capital assets (human, social, natural, productive and financial).

The term sustainable development has its roots in the 18th century in Europe, primarily in the field

of forestry and agriculture (Wiersum, 1995). However, it only made its way into the broader
consciousness of society in the second half of the 20th century. As was stated above, the concept
of sustainable development began to emerge in the 1970s, as environmental scientists and
economists called for limitations on growth (e.g. Meadows, 1972) and the stabilization of the state
of the economy (e.g. Daly, 1973).

In 1972, the UN Conference on the Human Environment (or the Stockholm Conference), which
adopted the declaration acknowledging humanity’s right to a healthy environment, gave rise to the
UN Environment Programme (Moldan, 2007).

Furthermore, in 1987 the Our Shared Future report (or Brundtland Report), created by the World
Commission on Environment, was adopted (World Commission on Environment and Development,
1987).
In Rio de Janeiro in 1992 at the UN conference on environment and development, the Declaration
on Environment, which elaborates on the principles of sustainable development, was adopted

(United Nations, 1992). The UN approved the Agenda 21 document, which defines particular steps
for the implementation of sustainable development at a local and regional level in various areas.
The local Agenda 21 can be seen as an “action plan for sustainable development” (Ministry of the
Environment, 2022).

Furthermore, at the Millennium Summit in New York in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals
(or MDGs) were also adopted.
And, in 2012, the plan to create and subsequently integrate global Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) was adopted in The Future We Want declaration in 2012.

SDGs are encompassed in the document entitled “Transforming Our World: Agenda for
Sustainable Development 2030”, which was accepted at the UN Summit in 2015. This involves the
17 goals depicted in Figure 1. These goals are seen as crucial for the future direction of

sustainability. All UN member states and representatives of civic society, the business sphere,
academic community and citizens of all continents took part in creating these goals (United Nations,
2020). The goals represent an urgent call to action by all developed and developing countries in a
global partnership (United Nations, 2019).

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