The Essential Energy Transition - Energy and Climate: How to Achieve a Successful Energy Transition - page 37

Pressure on the environment is likely to increase further, with major
consequences for the ecosystems on Earth. Biodiversity is especially
vulnerable.
Unless immediate action is taken to remedy the current practice,
this situation could eventually become disastrous, causing an ecological
catastrophe [16], a scenario already predicted by some authors [14, 15].

Acting from a perspective of sustainable development

The various threats discussed demonstrate the need to act from a perspec-
tive of sustainable development. Sustainable development was defined
in the Brundtland report presented to the United Nations in 1987 as a
'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' [27].
The world s resources are finite and must be managed accordingly.

Similarly, our environment has only a limited capacity to react to attacks
of pollutant discharges and must be protected. In 1972, the Meadows
report commissioned by the Club of Rome raised the question of the
compatibility between economic growth and maintenance of natural
equilibrium [28].
The aim of sustainable development is precisely to reconcile these
two requirements and find a compromise between a position which
favours growth, irrespective of the consequences on the environment,
and one which consists of accepting no change in the environment,
regardless of the economic implications. The analysis of the means
necessary to achieve this aim nevertheless varies substantially depending
on the authors and several models of 'weak' and 'strong' sustainability
have been put forward. These models diverge on the possibility of
introducing alternative resources to compensate for the natural resources
consumed [29]. The advocates of 'strong' sustainability reject any changes
to the state of the planet resulting from human activity and therefore
any irreversible consumption of natural resources.
The very concept of sustainable development is questioned by those
who consider that it combines two incompatible notions and urge
economic growth as the sole means of preserving our environment.
It seems difficult to deny the developing countries the right to better
welfare, which cannot be obtained without energy consumption. It is
nevertheless possible to conceive new ways of living offering better
welfare and quality of life, while moderating energy consumption.