Before the widespread use of the term sustainable industries,
the terms sustainable economy and sustainable development were
prevalent. Their popularization started with the United Nations
Conference for Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) in
1992. The conference was prompted by the report Our Common
Future (1987, World Commission on Environment and Development,
also known as the Brundtland Commission), which called for
strategies to strengthen efforts to promote sustainable and
environmentally sound development. A series of seven UN
conferences followed on environment and development. They coined
the most widely used definition of sustainable development as, -
development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs , according to one definition, demands that we seek ways
of living, working and being that enable all people of the world
to lead healthy, fulfilling, and economically secure lives
without destroying the environment