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French, Duncan --- "Sustainable Development" [2010] ELECD 591; in Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Ong, M. David; Merkouris, Panos (eds), "Research Handbook on International Environmental Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Environmental Law

Editor(s): Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Ong, M. David; Merkouris, Panos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847201249

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Sustainable Development

Author(s): French, Duncan

Number of pages: 18

Extract:

3 Sustainable development
Duncan French



1. Introduction
Sustainable development is one of those concepts that it is difficult not to agree with; who
would not wish to guarantee environmental protection, while at the same time promoting
social and economic development, particularly in some of the poorest regions of the world?
It is little wonder that politicians, policy-makers and many academics alike have been so
attracted to such an apparently simple juxtaposition, not just of words, but also of ideas. But
lying behind the apparent simplicity of sustainable development are some very difficult,
potentially even intractable, issues. Moreover, the inevitable interdisciplinary nature of
sustainable development has ensured that these issues range across the entire disciplinary
spectrum, involving questions relating to both the natural and social sciences. It is also of
some note that legal research has often been at the vanguard of the discussion on sustainable
development, not only considering its legal implications but, more broadly, helping to define
the outer parameters of the concept itself; reflecting ­ perhaps ­ both the constitutive role that
law can play in social phenomena and the increasingly reflective nature of legal study.
The aim of this chapter is suitably modest; to introduce the reader to some of the principal
arguments around sustainable development and to consider the legal implications of the
concept. In particular, Section 2 considers the historical development of sustainable develop-
ment and outlines some of the social, economic and political dimensions of the concept. It
will note that though many criticisms have ...