Sustainable Development 2.0

Abstract

The objective of sustainable development is open to many different interpretations. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the economic proposals related to sustainability through three bodies of work: the first, describing the point of view presented by the leading economic theory, puts forward the idea of sustainable growth as a necessary and sufficient condition to attain sustainable development; the second, inspired by the notion of limits, attempts to establish socio-environmental constraints within which economic development should take place; the third, addressing Third World conditions, focuses on social inequalities and questions the meaning of the development concept.