Abstract
Since its introduction in the late 70s (see, e.g., Pirages, 1977; IUCN, 1980) the concept of sustainable development has suggested a synthesis between economic development and environmental preservation, as well as a possible compromise between the point of view of economists and that of environmentalists. Unfortunately, there is still no agreement on the precise meaning of the concept of sustainable development and, what is worse, none of the definitions suggested so far seems able to lead to a really operational measure, unless one is prepared to accept assumptions about the preferences of future generations which could be considered implausible and paternalistic. This is most unfortunate since the success of the idea of sustainable development is hardly ‘sustainable’ unless reliable measures of sustainabilityl are worked out.
This paper is based on a contribution of the author to the final report of SUSTEE, a research promoted by EEC and co-ordinated by the OIKOS Foundation of Siena.
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Vercelli, A. (1998). Sustainable Development and the Freedom of Future Generations. In: Chichilnisky, G., Heal, G., Vercelli, A. (eds) Sustainability: Dynamics and Uncertainty. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) Series on Economics, Energy and Environment, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4892-4_9
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