This is the challenge of the first part of this century.
During the next 25 years world population will exceed 8 billion people in a world with little tangible internal frontiers. Yet we only have one planet while we behave with an appetite for 3 or more. The challenge is therefore to design an economy that works for all within the limits of this planet. We need to ensure a fair share of its dividends instead of eroding its capital at the risk, in fifteen years or so, to drift in a period of serious conflicts for vital resources like water, crude oil and forests.
The objective of sustainable development expresses our awareness of this challenge. Although short of planets we are, fortunately, rich in creativity.

Most certainly a general trend: the awareness that industrial growth from the sole financial angle leads to a dead-end, that environmental and social risks have become a major concern for industry, that sustainability can only be achieved through a global approach with the long term in mind. Sustainable development means a new behaviour, a new attitude based on accountability and transparency towards society.