What are the difference between sustainable development and human rights?

Answer 1

Sustainability refers to a human economy and society whose cumulative effects do not crash the biosphere-the planet's life support "operating" system and primary economy, that is, do not violate the ecological integrity of the biosphere.

Sustainable development refers to the economic and societal development path to get from the unsustainable human economy we have now to ultimate sustainability.

Although it is possible to imagine a sustainable economy that does not respect human rights, it is unlikely that a sustainable society could be based on any structural and systematic violation of human rights.

In addition, many instances of unsustainable practices are driven, in the first instance, by human rights violations, that is barriers to people meeting their human needs or otherwise degrading peoples' health and well-being.

It is also unlikely that the society that would perpetuate structural and systematic human rights violations could conceive of the threats and challenges of sustainability in a way sufficient for generating a development path to sustainability success.

Sustainable development and sustainability will require both tapping the collective intelligence of all people, cultures, and ethnicity and their transformation for sustainability. This is impossible without the condition of human rights for all.

In fact, it could be summarized that as ecological integrity is the cornerstone of a sustainable economy, human-rights integrity is the cornerstone of a sustainable society served by that sustainable economy.

Thus, human rights can be seen as the social dimension and integral component of the ecologic-economic integrity required for sustainable development and ultimate sustainability.