Sustainable development: scope and purpose of the text

The purpose of this book is to examine, in an historical context, sustainable development and the variant concepts that relate to:

1. a. international development: alleviation of poverty, deprivation, economic and social inequities, and what may influence future food and hygienic security for all humanity;

2. b. industrial biotechnologies as they have evolved and are applied to agriculture, food production, preservation and distribution, and pharmaceutical diagnostics and therapeutics;

3. c. concerns among civil society for their health and security in the light of exceptional innovations in agricultural and industrial biotechnologies, and the capacity of the planet's environments and resources to withstand increasing stresses imposed by human and industrial activities.

‘Development’ is a noun that may describe the state, pattern of change and progress over time of virtually every known phenomenon, human and industrial activity. It amounts to a contemporary act of faith that all ‘development’, for whatever purpose, must be ‘sustainable’. ‘Sustainable development’ is a declared principle and purpose of international agencies, national governments and their ministries, industries – particularly those dependent on natural resources and biotechnologies – diverse organisations and civil societies concerned with human development, conservation of environments, biodiversity and critical resources.

The term ‘Sustainable Development’ gained currency during the 1970s. Since then, ‘sustainable’ has tended to imply that a process or activity will progress prudently and efficiently, with economic and benign use of resources; and that it will be unlikely to inflict insult or injury to the health and welfare of humans and other organisms, or damage to the ecologies and environments in which they exist.