The concept of sustainable development, key to the Rio Earth summit in 1992 was initially concerned with the harvesting of rainforests by encouraging replanting and better management. However, this concept was quickly applied to all human activities recognising the roles that society, industry and governments play in addressing global issues of climate change and resource depletion.

The traditional definition "Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" applies to the way we live our lives today trying to ensure that we don't create problems for future generations. It means thinking about all aspects of our lives, and weighing up the short-term gains against the long-term problems.

Sustainable Development is about changing the way we make descisions. Usually when we make decisions, we weigh up of each choice into our decision-making. The most sustainable option is the one where the social and economic implications are balanced with the environmental impact, sustainability is about environmental protection, sustained economic growth and social equity. Today's environmental problems, like air pollution, are largely a consequence of the unsustainable consumption of natural resources and the mismanagement of waste products.

"The conventional wisdom is mistaken in seeing priorities in economic, environmental, and social policy as competing. The best solutions are based not on trade-offs or "balance" between these objectives but on design integration achieving all of them together" Hawkens, Lovins and Lovins, Natural Capitalism

Scientists and engineers will recognise that "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" and that "matter can neither be created nor destroyed". Environmentalists have developed the holistic approach "the Gaia hypothesis"; instigated by James Lovelock in 1969 after James Hutton, considered the 'father of Geology' said in 1789 that "I consider the Earth to be a super organism, and that its proper study should be physiology."

Sustainable development requires an integrated approach to social, economic and environmental issues. Businesses and industry can work through 3 steps which begin with Environmental Management, Innovation and then Adaptation.