Sustainable development, sustainable budget as viewed by international economic and financial organizations

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development became widely known after 1987. It was introduced in the Brundtland-report, i.e. the final paper of the UN's World Commission on Environment and Development – a body established in 1983: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Although the environmental aspect of the term enjoys most of the attention today, sustainable development equally includes economic, social and ecological equilibrium. In recent years, UN organisations and international development institutions have put an increasing emphasis on social considerations, i.e. on implementing inclusive development, beside environmental aspects. This is mainly related to their commitment to overcome poverty which is expressed in the so-called Millennium Objectives. It must not be neglected, however, that relevant international benchmark surveys indicated a strong correlation between the sustainability of growth and social cohesion. The OECD is paying a lot of attention to the social and economic aspects of sustainable development and its environmental, agricultural, natural resources management, technological, human resources-related and social, etc. implications. They look at how today's needs can be fulfilled without restricting the opportunities of future generations to fulfil their needs. The main objective is human well-being in a broad sense. Experiences are discussed at conferences and published in various publications.