Sustainable Development: Reality Or Myth?

Abstract

Since the United Nations Environment Conference in Stockholm (1972), the concept of sustainable development has steadily made its way among individual scientists and international organizations. The apotheosis of this development was the adoption by the United Nations in 2015 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. However, many scientists and politicians were skeptical about the concept of sustainable development, since the results of implementing sustainable development in different countries were far from expected. Many decisions taken at the level of the UN and other international organizations turned out to be unfulfilled. In my opinion, as well as some other Russian scientists, the concept of sustainable development is an unrealistic project, it is a myth, although it is very positive and humane. Sustainable development goals can be achieved only by the most economically developed countries entering the era of post-industrialism. In other industrial and especially pre-industrial countries, that make up the vast majority of the world, achieving these goals is impossible. Since the environment is a single inextricable geosystem, sustainable development can only be achieved at the global level, which is not possible in the present and near future. However, sustainable development projects carried out in different countries are actually rational nature management in selected countries.