On General Sustainable Development
Kaizhong Yang
1 Concept of Sustainable Development
The proposition of the sustainable development concept is a big step forward in
mankind’s “environmental philosophy.” Before the 1950s, there was the famous
Malthusian Theory of Population, but in general, man tends to believe, consciously
or unconsciously, that the environment is able to provide human society with natural
resources and environmental labor infinitely, and that its functions won’t be harmed
no matter how we dispose of and utilize it. Such an idea is detrimental to human
welfare and happiness and makes man, the entrusted manager, feel that they do not
have to shoulder responsibilities for nature, society and later generations and no
use to manage the man-environment system. However, the increasing breadth and
depth of human intervention on nature has brought about more serious environmental
damages. Since the 1960s, man has begun to realize that the natural resources and
environmental labor provided by the earth are not infinite, but are as rare as capital
and labor. How to dispose of and use what the earth provides relates with human
welfare and happiness, and the current generation has the responsibility to rationally
manage the earth environment for human interests. However, for some time we didn’t
fully grasp the essence of environmental problems, and adopted the simple approach
of “post-pollution governance” to environmental management. After the 1970s, man
has gradually realized that environmental problems are rooted in the way how society
and economy operate, and resolving them largely depends on adjusting the way of
operation. Therefore, environmental management shall be incorporated in economic
and social development policies, which requires that the relation among population,
economy and environment should be shifted from “confrontational” (development
The article was originally published in the first and second issue of China Population, Resources
and Environment, 1994. It was slightly edited when included in this book.
K. Yang (B)
Research Insitute for Eco-civilization, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_49
499
Kaizhong Yang
1 Concept of Sustainable Development
The proposition of the sustainable development concept is a big step forward in
mankind’s “environmental philosophy.” Before the 1950s, there was the famous
Malthusian Theory of Population, but in general, man tends to believe, consciously
or unconsciously, that the environment is able to provide human society with natural
resources and environmental labor infinitely, and that its functions won’t be harmed
no matter how we dispose of and utilize it. Such an idea is detrimental to human
welfare and happiness and makes man, the entrusted manager, feel that they do not
have to shoulder responsibilities for nature, society and later generations and no
use to manage the man-environment system. However, the increasing breadth and
depth of human intervention on nature has brought about more serious environmental
damages. Since the 1960s, man has begun to realize that the natural resources and
environmental labor provided by the earth are not infinite, but are as rare as capital
and labor. How to dispose of and use what the earth provides relates with human
welfare and happiness, and the current generation has the responsibility to rationally
manage the earth environment for human interests. However, for some time we didn’t
fully grasp the essence of environmental problems, and adopted the simple approach
of “post-pollution governance” to environmental management. After the 1970s, man
has gradually realized that environmental problems are rooted in the way how society
and economy operate, and resolving them largely depends on adjusting the way of
operation. Therefore, environmental management shall be incorporated in economic
and social development policies, which requires that the relation among population,
economy and environment should be shifted from “confrontational” (development
The article was originally published in the first and second issue of China Population, Resources
and Environment, 1994. It was slightly edited when included in this book.
K. Yang (B)
Research Insitute for Eco-civilization, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_49
499