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What is sustainable development?

It’s an environmental thing isn’t it?

Protecting our environment is an important part of sustainable development, but it’s not the whole story. The bigger picture is much broader and more holistic than this and, in reality, comprises just about every element of our lives.

Sustainable development is achieved when the environment, the economy and society develop in harmony using only the resources from the Earth that can be replaced. An essential element of the concept is ensuring future generations’ ability to do the same.

So how do we do this?

To the average person in the street, sustainable living means considering every decision we make in day-to-day life; ensuring that we do not use more than we need to and considering other people’s well-being and the environment at all times.

To government, sustainable development means creating policies and making decisions on behalf of the country that equally support our communities, maintain our standard of living and our environment, whilst also respecting quality of life and the environment overseas.

The thing to remember is that sustainable development, or sustainable living, doesn’t mean missing out on the comforts we’ve become used to. It just means behaving in a way that’s more thoughtful and less wasteful.

Why do we need sustainable development?

Fact: If everyone in the world lived like we do in Wales , we would need three planet Earths to keep us in our present way of life!

We’re running out of space, creating more waste, running out of natural resources, consuming more and more, and over-consuming in richer countries - elsewhere in the world poverty is increasing.

It’s also important to be mindful of what we buy and consume day-to-day to ensure a fair price for producers worldwide and to make our own communities and indigenous industries prosper.

Vitally, our use of fossil fuels is creating an increase in the levels of carbon in the atmosphere which is causing world-wide changes to our climate. It’s essential that we respond now before the problem becomes too big to manage.

The solution is in everyone’s hands. We must be ready to make small changes as individuals and big changes as nations, to lead us to a more sustainable future.

How can this website help you?

If you’d like some ideas on how you can live more sustainably this website is full of practical top tips for you to try in every aspect of your life.

If you have a question, visit our frequently asked questions section. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, send in your question.

You can also search for hundreds of organisations and businesses that play their part to promote sustainable development in Wales . There are some you can go to for advice or information and others you can go to for practical help, goods and services.

If you’d like to find out more about sustainable development please visit our links page for other specialised organisations.