'London Sustainable Development Commission' - no friend of Brent Cross developers?

"The London Sustainable Development Commission was established in 2002 to advise the Mayor of London on making London an exemplary sustainable world city."

Sustainable Development in London

 "Sustainable development is about ensuring we have a better of quality of life now and for the future, whilst protecting and enhancing the earth's resources. Our vision for London articulates how this can be achieved and is contained in 'A Sustainable Development Framework for London':
 

Vision for London

"London has retained its position as one of the World’s great cities over many centuries because of the quantity, quality and diversity of its people, businesses, infrastructure and natural resources. However, the downside of this pre-eminence has been the associated social division, pollution and increasingly wasteful use of resources.

"Our vision for the 'World Class' London of the future is a place where all Londoners and visitors feel the greatest possible sense of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual well-being. Our thinking and decisionmaking will be long-term, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This means ensuring that the ways in which we live, work and play will not interfere with nature’s inherent ability to sustain life.

"We will achieve this by taking responsibility for the regional and global impacts of city life. With our commitment to inclusion and cooperation, we will build upon and celebrate London’s diversity, in all its forms. Resources will be used efficiently and fairly and the natural and built environment protected. Our reward will be a prosperous, vibrant and healthy city, one in which we all make the most of opportunities for fulfillment.

"All of us have a part to play in achieving this vision. Each step will be
supported by clear objectives and targets and will be sustained by learning from success."

In practice, achieving a better quality of life is about:

• Having access to quality education, jobs, services, housing and leisure;
• Living in an environment which is healthy, resilient and stable now and into the future;
• Living and working within a society which is democratic, just, engaged, diverse, responsible, supportive and vibrant;
• Being fulfilled, healthy and with sufficient personal resources to enjoy life.

Whether as individuals, communities, businesses or governments, our journey towards sustainability means we need to think about the social, economic and environmental impacts of everything we do. We must make the most out of available opportunities, designing out negative impacts and minimising them as a last resort.

Sustainable Development History

Sustainable Development is first officially referred to in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development in its report, 'Our Common Future'.  Known as the Brundtland Report, after the Chair of the Commission and author, Gro Harlem Brundtland, it defined sustainable development as: 

'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'.

Sustainable Development was formally recognised as a global challenge at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. This is great.

In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development measured progress against achieving sustainable development since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and set new challenges via a political declaration, an implementation plan and a range of practical measures.

In the United Kingdom, the government produced its sustainable development strategy, 'Securing the Future', which includes five principles to underpin how sustainable development will be pursued throughout the UK. The government has established the UK Sustainable Development Commission as the government's independent watchdog helping to put sustainable development at the heart of UK government policy."