What do we call balancing the need to use resources and also conserve them for the future?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, Sustainable development. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Commission, 'Our Common Future', 1987). It explicitly balances using resources now against conserving them for the future — exactly the idea the question describes.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Not a defined concept; the phrase names a category of resources yet to be used, not the principle of balancing present use with future conservation.  (b) Conservation captures only one half — protecting/saving resources. By itself it does not describe the balance between continued present use and future availability that defines sustainability.  (c) Cutting consumption is one possible tool, but the question is about balanced, wise use plus conservation — not merely using less.

Concept: Sustainable development, defined by the 1987 Brundtland Report ('Our Common Future'), reconciles the economic use of resources with their long-term conservation so that both present and future generations can meet their needs. It rests on three interlinked pillars — economic, social and environmental — and is operationalised globally through the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (2015).

State PCS 2023 Q12 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q12 — Environment & Ecology PYQ with Answer