Robert Goodland Summary

Goodland, Robert. "The concept of environmental sustainability." Annual review of ecology and systematics, vol. 26, pp. 1-24, 1995.

In "The concept of environmental sustainability," Robert Goodland, a co-founder of Chomping Climate Change and the Cary Center for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, claims that sustainable development strategy cannot be implemented without noting the development requirements of the three economic, social and environmental aspects (Goodland 4). Goodland proposes that sustainability and development require improving the living conditions of all the world's population without increasing the use of natural resources beyond the planet's resilience. While sustainable development may require different actions

For example, it is possible to gain $1,500 to $2,000 per capita income in low-income countries, but $21,000 in others (Goodland 5). The experiments have shown that capital is one of the most important elements necessary to achieve a degree of development, taking into account the importance of other elements. Robert further states that the objectives of economic development are to increase national income, improve human living standards and reduce the internal gap while adapting the structure of the national economy to the benefit of the industrial and commercial sector (Goodland 9). I agree is that economic sustainability is one of the main sectors to have a sustainable development. My reason why I agree with Goodland's argument is that it achieves the principle of a free market as it provides products with good prices without daring the right of the citizen to choose the appropriate product. This is in addition to providing the infrastructure of transport, communications, and methods and granting tax and customs exemptions, to the extent that does not adversely affect the existing national

Goodland highlights that human development in education and nutrition is now accepted as part of economic development based on the World Bank’s report, a global partnership fighting poverty through sustainable solutions (Goodland 2). Also, he points out that the aim of community development is to solve problems and raise the individual's social, economic, cultural and educational level by making full use of human resources (Goosland 1). In Robert’s article, it became clear that it was impossible to separate both types of development; economic and social because both are a condition to achieve the other. Goodland emphasizes his claim by explaining the history of sustainability. The concept of development emerged after World War II, especially in the early 1950s, when economic and social scientists began to divide countries in terms of their economic structure, their development and their standard of living and living in different countries, developing countries and developed countries (Goodland 6). According to Robert’s historical evidence, economic development which tends to develop production and increase national and individual incomes, that is, increase wealth, and social development: which aims at raising the standard of social life in terms of health, education, living standards and services