Sustainable development: What does it really mean?

Although the idea appeals to concerns about ensuring a better life for future generations, it is difficult to pin down when practical questions of policy or private sector behaviour are posed.

It is clear that while organic farming can be a thriving small sub-sector of global agriculture serving affluent consumers with particular preferences - despite the lack of any scientific evidence that organic crops are "healthier" than those normally-grown - it is not sustainable for the world at large.

PHOTO: REUTERS

SUSTAINABLE development is mom's apple pie and the central organising principle of all things environmental. Governments and companies are all for it. 2018 has been announced as the Year of Climate Action in Singapore, and the country holds Asean's chairmanship this year as well. Sustainability