In researching all things wetsuit for last issue of the Point I was introduced to the concept of Sustainable Development. In my naivety I pondered a simple question, why wouldn't anyone not want to develop sustainably. More than two years down the line and this question has progressed to graduating with a Masters in Sustainable Development and it turns out Sustainable Development is a contested notion. My original hypotheses still stands, why wouldn't anyone want to develop sustainably but it's how we get there that seems to questionable, and my definition of developing sustainably can be markedly different from yours, or governments, or business, or international institutions, and from the Global North to the Global South, not to mention the historic implications which date back, to Colombus and the rise of European Colonialism.
What seems pivotal to the past, present and future, I believe relates to the 1972 publication, The Limits to Growth, and what was projected to happen if we, as a global society continue on the pathways set out. One such indicator to systems collapse, the exponential growth of persistent pollution.