Abstract

Mba Febresima Gideon

This article looks at the controversy surrounding the concepts of sustainable and optimal development and the path the present generation is taking, to reduce the deteriorating of the natural environment. The World Commission of Environment and Development (WCED 1987) defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. In other words, it is development based on patterns of production and consumption that can be pursued into the future without degrading the human or natural environment. It involves the equitable sharing of the benefits of economic activity across all sections of society, to enhance the well-being of humans, protect health and alleviate poverty. Despite the wide publicity, the present generation seems not to catch up with the ideas and philosophy of the concept . Rather optimal development, development in totality that compromises the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs, is seen to be adopted in achieving the present economic agenda, both in developed and developing countries. The aim of this article is to examine the contradiction of both concepts and the extent to which the present generation has chosen as far as both concepts are concerned and its long term effects on the future generation. The article then concludes with special reference to the Ghanaian initiative towards sustainable development.