The Sustainable Development Revolution

Abstract

The sustainable development concept anticipates major civilisational change on the ecological, social and economic levels. The tremendous scope of these changes makes it reasonable to expect this new vision for development to achieve the status of a “Revolution” comparable with those known from the past: the agricultural, scientific and industrial revolutions. In this paper I seek to expand the discussion on sustainable development, so as to include ethical, technical/technological, legal and political aspects. I am convinced that a hierarchal relationship exists between these issues, albeit with the moral dimension being of greatest importance, since without it the Sustainable Develop-ment Revolution may not take place at all.

Keywords: sustainable development, social development, protection of the environment, etyka środowiskowa

JEL Classification: O13, Q20, Q32, Q41, R11, M14