Introduction to Sustainable Development

Fill-in-the-blank flashcards covering key concepts from the introduction to sustainable development, including GWP, SDGs, normative vs analytical aspects, complexity, technology, growth, and global challenges.

By crude statistics, the GWP measures at least __ times larger than back in 1750.

200

The scale of the world economy, now estimated to produce $90 trillion of output per year (a sum called the ), is unprecedented.

gross world product

The normative four basic objectives of a good society are economic prosperity; social inclusion and cohesion; environmental sustainability; and __.

good governance

Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the __ without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

present

The three-part framework of sustainable development comprises economic development, social development, and environmental __.

sustainability

The characteristics that arise from the interactions of components in a complex system, producing outcomes that are 'more than the sum of its parts', are called __.

emergent properties

Complex systems often respond to shocks in a __ way, meaning small changes can have large effects.

nonlinear

The Maglev in Shanghai is powered by __ rather than by coal or petroleum.

electricity

Technology can be directed toward human goals through a deliberate, goal-based interaction of public and private R&D efforts; this is called __ change.

directed

To encourage targeted innovations, governments may modify patent laws to encourage __ on specific diseases.

R&D

The infant mortality rate (IMR) around 1950 was about __ per 1,000 births; today it is about 37.

134

The world population reached __ billion by 2011.

7

Maddison’s estimates show a GWP per capita growth of about __ percent per year from 1820 to 2010.

1.1

The period of rapid growth associated with coal mining, steelmaking, and textile production is commonly called the __ Revolution.

Industrial

Shenzhen’s population grew from about 30,000 in 1980 to nearly __ today.

12 million

The era in which humanity's influence on Earth's systems is causing major disruptions is called the __.

Anthropocene

The planetary boundaries framework was published in __ (year).

2009

The conventional view describes a trade-off between efficiency and __.

equity

Gross World Product (GWP) equals GDP per __ times world population.

capita

The SDGs should be __, concise and easy to communicate, limited in number, aspirational, global in nature and universally applicable.

action-oriented