The economic dimension of sustainable development

Abstract

The call for change of an approach toward economic development appeared in 1979 with the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. After more than 40 years change in the way of thinking about economic development is crucial for human survival. In this chapter sustainable economic development is discussed from the perspective of three main economic actors: (1) governments and international organisations as creators of law and regulatory framework for sustainable development, (2) producers as those who are responsible for most of the negative impact on the environment by their economic activity, and (3) consumers as those who with purchasing decisions may create pressure on producers, in the same time consumers are very often under pressure of producers to buy more than they need. Based on the systematic literature review it is shown how those three dimensions are interconnected.