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Sustainable Development in International Environmental Law

is regarded as a basic concept of environmental protection policies and a
model or a road map that may soften the environment economy tension, it
is addressed as a “principle” both in international agreements and in the
Environmental Law (Güneş 2021:81-82).
Despite its widespread use and its dominance in environmental law
since the nineties, no consensus has been reached on the definition of the
concept of sustainable development (Güneş 2021:83). On the other hand,
developed and developing countries as well as various social groups have
different approaches towards this principle (Güneş ve Coşkun 2004:83-84).
The perception of the principle depends, above all, on the understanding of
the concept of sustainability and development.
The concept of sustainability, which is currently being used in a wide range of
fields from environmental science to education, from agriculture to security, is
criticized due to the fact that it has various definitions in different fields. (Newig
2008:viii; Güneş 2021:79). Sustainability, with its initial meaning, can be defined
as the ability for something to continue its existence without interruption or for
something to exist in the future as well (Güneş, 2021:87). The Latin origin is the
word “subtenir”, which means “to protect” or ”to uphold”. The Oxford English
Dictionary defines sustainability as the ability to maintain at a certain level or
ratio. Sustainability, according to Ruckelshaus, is “the doctrine that economic
growth and development within the widest limits of ecology will be ensured
by mutual interaction and protected over time” and according to Gilman, it is
the continuation of the function of society, ecosystem or any ongoing system
until an indefinite future without consuming the main resources (Özmehmet
2008:2-3). Sustainability, in the environmental law, the subject of this study,
can be defined as making the life of humanity permanent while ensuring the
continuity of production and diversity, or being able to meet our own needs
without compromising the needs of future generations, based on the definition
in the United Nation’s report Our Common Future published in 1987, saying
1
that “Humanity is capable of sustaining the development by providing the
daily needs, without compromising the nature’s ability to respond to the needs
of future generations”. Within the scope of the definitions, it is stated that
sustainability consists of economy, society and environmental components,
and sustainability can only be possible if these components are common or
inclusive (Özmehmet 2008:3-4, Gedik 2020:203).
The concept of development, which is another component of the sustainable
development, is a concept that concerns different disciplines, but it can be
defined as economic growth in a country, an increase in national income per
capita, the realisation of social and cultural progress together, or the rate

1 Also called as the Brundtland Report.

Year 2 / Issue 3 / January 2023 37