UPPSC 2023 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 12 of 150

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.

• (a)Future resources — 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)Resource conservation — 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)Reducing consumption — Cutting consumption is one possible tool, but the question is about balanced, wise use plus conservation — not merely using less.

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).

The keyword 'balancing ... use ... and conserve ... for the future' is the textbook signature of sustainable development. Each distractor grabs only one side of the idea (conservation alone, or reduced use), whereas sustainability is the balance of both, across generations.

• Defined by the Brundtland Commission report 'Our Common Future' (1987).
• 'Meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations.'
• Three pillars: economic, social and environmental.
• Operationalised by the UN's 17 SDGs, adopted 2015 (Agenda 2030).

• Equating sustainable development with mere conservation, or with only cutting consumption
• Confusing the SDGs (2015, 17 goals) with the MDGs (2000, 8 goals)

Asked as a definition-to-term match or the Brundtland one-liner; UPSC often links it to 'carrying capacity' and the SDGs.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The definition 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' comes from:

  • (a)Stockholm Declaration 1972
  • (b)Brundtland Report 1987
  • (c)Kyoto Protocol 1997
  • (d)Paris Agreement 2015

  Answer(b) Brundtland Report 1987 ('Our Common Future').

• practice — not a real PYQ

  How many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the UN in 2015?

  • (a)8
  • (b)15
  • (c)17
  • (d)20

  Answer(c) 17 SDGs, under Agenda 2030.