Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, development is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." It is usually understood that this "intergenerational" justice would be impossible to achieve in the absence of present-day social justice, if the economic activities of some groups of people tinue to jeopardize well-being of p the ple belonging to other groups or living in other parts of the world.