Adelman , Sam (2018) The sustainable development goals, anthropocentrism and neoliberalism. In: French, Duncan and Kotzé, Louis, (eds.) Sustainable Development Goals : Law, Theory and Implementation. Cheltenham, Glos ; Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar, pp. 15-40. ISBN 9781786438751

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Abstract

This chapter provides an existential critique of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. With this aim in mind, I interrogate the meaning of sustainability, development and their concatenation in the idea of sustainable development from the Brundtland Commission’s promotion of the concept in Our Common Future in 1987 to its current incarnation as a neoliberal form of green capitalism. My critique is developed in two parts. First, through an analysis of the differences between sustainable development and ecological sustainability. Sustainable development is widely embraced as a process that promotes sustainability despite the history of extractive, ecologically unsustainable economic development that prioritises economic growth over environmental protection. Endless economic growth is not sustainable if it breaches absolute biophysical limits and planetary boundaries, and ignores the rupture of the Earth system in the Anthropocene, the first geological epoch in which the activities of a single species, Homo sapiens, has irreversibly altered the geological structure of the planet.

Item Type:	Book Item
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Sustainable development, Economic development, Environmental protection, Neoliberalism
Publisher:	Edward Elgar
Place of Publication:	Cheltenham, Glos ; Northampton, Massachusetts
ISBN:	9781786438751
Book Title:	Sustainable Development Goals : Law, Theory and Implementation
Editor:	French, Duncan and Kotzé, Louis
Official Date:	October 2018
Dates:	Date Event October 2018 Published 15 June 2017 Accepted
Date of first compliant deposit:	18 July 2017
Number of Pages:	336
Page Range:	pp. 15-40
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Related URLs:	Other

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