Equity, human security, and environment: key elements of sustainable development

Abstract

In this paper I advocate the idea that equity, security and environment are key elements of the definition of Sustainable Development. Arguing, like Ignacy Sachs, that the concept of Sustainable Development must be based on society-oriented definition of problems, I will try to present some aspects of the complex and conflicting interaction between social equity, human security and environmental sustainability within the social process of shaping and building development for present and future generations. I will argue that Sustainable Development demands an integrated and interactive approach that allows for the understanding of the complex relationship between society and nature in respect of human rights, and assuming that environment is one vital dimension of the future of the human kind.