Short Half Course on BUSINESS ETHICS and CSR taught by Dr. Patrick O'SULLIVANIna Yankovich IBP 2013 (356547) Sustainable development is now widely acclaimed as both a desirable and even indispensable goal for governments and businesses. Explain the central meaning of sustainability and why today it is considered a moral imperative especially for businesses. I would like to start by explaining the term sustainable development. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the current generation without preventing future generations from meeting their own needs. This formulation was prepared in the report "Our Common Future", prepared by the International Commission on Environment and Development, by the United Nations in 1987. It has become the core of a new paradigm of human development. We can say that the concept of sustainable development has gained the status of an essential principle of the existence of earthly civilization. The profound purpose of sustainable development is to save humanity and the Earth's biosphere. It is assumed that in this way we will be able to avoid a global ecological catastrophe and in the future it will be possible to realize the two main goals:First, the survival of humanity as a whole and its further development. This also means that we should provide our descendants with equal opportunities in the use of the resources and environmental conditions of Earth and Space, as we (the current generation) have. This can be called the principle of equal opportunities for present and future generations. Second, stop the degradation of the planet's biosphere as a result of human development. The main thing is not just to achieve technological development or solve the economic situation... the middle of the paper... resource capacity and prices, consumer demand, investor pressure, attraction and retention of talented people, the appearance of new markets and the disappearance of old ones, changes in financial transactions. As I understand it, if the company has the issue of sustainability as one of the approaches in doing business, in strategic terms and in the long term this leads to cost reduction, the formation of a new consumer base and recruitment and development of talented people in the organization. Nowadays it is so important for the Company to commit to sustainable development. It helps the company achieve long-term goals, which would be combined with its core activities and strengths. It will also motivate employees and collaborators to work better and give optimism, since it is always easier for good people to create something useful and educational, rather than doing harm.