Sustainability and Sustainable Development

A Key Difference

Hi, and welcome to today’s edition of RAP Sense.

As promised, this week’s article will be focused on the subject of sustainability, sustainable development, and the difference between the two.

There have been discussions on sustainability as far back as the 18th century. In fact, past civilizations were concerned about the issue of sustainability in different ways. So, in this sense, sustainability has been around much longer than the concepts of sustainable development.

Sustainable development really only came to the limelight in 1987 after the United Nation’s Brundtland Commission defined it in their report as the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

This definition has become the most popular definition of sustainable development and sustainability. Although both terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not exactly the same.

If you do just a little research or google search on sustainability and sustainable development, you will find several write ups on the differences between the two concepts.

However, for me, there is one key difference – the loci of focus of each term. Sustainable development pertains more to geographical organizations (countries) than to formal organizations such as firms while sustainability is more about formal organizations.

So, most discussions on sustainable development are usually generally about countries. You will notice this if you take a look at the seventeen (17) United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 13, on climate change, is only one of the SDGs but it seems to have somehow overshadowed other SDGs in the media - this is part of the reason some associate sustainable development and sustainability solely with climate change.

For firms, especially business firms, the “talk” is usually more about sustainability which is about balancing the triple bottom line – People, Planet, Profit.

Sustainability and sustainable development are connected as firms do not operate within a vacuum; they operate within countries. So, for firms that try to balance the triple bottom line, they are also, in a way, simultaneously ensuring the sustainable development of the countries they operate in.

The above, for me, is a key difference between sustainable development and sustainability which is often not highlighted in many write ups.

When I started this newsletter, I promised to feature interviews. Next week, I will be bringing the very first interview on RAP Sense.

Thank you for reading. See You Next Week – SYNW.

Image Credit: Harvard Business School (HBS), 2020