2.1 Roots of Sustainable Development 9
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de Janeiro. It was a conference which brought together more than 180 world leaders
who agreed to adhere to the 27 principles of the “Rio Declaration” for action on
sustainable development. Ten years after this summit the World Summit on Sus-
tainable Development (WSSD) took place in 2002 in Johannesburg. As a result of
the conference a “Plan of Implementation” and “The Johannesburg Declaration on
Sustainable Development” were released. The documents contain ways in which to
act to eradicate poverty, deal with consumption and production issues, and health
concerns (World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002a, 2002b; Edwards 2005).
In comparison to the first conference the second one in Johannesburg was able to
more effectively include issues like economic and social equity into the discussion
besides environmental topics (Edwards 2005). However, both of these conferences
specified principles but did not propose an action plan on how these initiatives
would be implemented. The effects of this are apparent today with corporations
facing challenges in how to meet the expressed expectations in the Agenda 21 and
in the other two documents mentioned above while achieving a satisfying business
performance (Rainey 2010).
This summary of milestones and key conferences on sustainable developmentshows the evolution of the “sustainability revolution” based on the often called three
E’s: ecology/ environment, economy/ employment, equity/ equality (Edwards 2005).
The three E’s express the interlinkage of three distinct areas for sustainable actions.
First the environment as one component of sustainable development shall beexplained. This includes maintaining an intact ecosystem, and a long term stock
of natural resources as well as ensuring ecological basics for human society such
as clean water, air, and food. Second, sustainable action in the area of economy
expresses the close relationship between ecosystems and the economy. A certain
dependence has been identified between the two concepts. A healthy ecosystem
with all its services is important for a healthy, growing economy. While a dynamic
economy contributes to a responsible management of natural resources. This third
aspect of sustainable development describes the understanding that well-being
of an individual and the larger community are interdependent. Furthermore, it
adds the recognition that an equitable distribution of resources is required for the
viability of society (Edwards 2005).
To summarize, sustainable development is built on three pillars: economy,ecology and society. It engenders a dynamic which balances the environmental
exploitation, creation of economic wealth and the fulfillment of social needs.
However, corporations are still searching for ways to find this balance and achieve
sustainable success.