What, Really, Does 'Sustainable' Mean? (NPR Goats And Soda Blog)

From the article: Sustainable, sustainable, sustainable. Sustainable. Sustainable. SUSTAINABLE! 

Oh, excuse me. I was just counting the number of times the word "sustainable" (and its close cousin, sustainability) appear in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that the U.N. will endorse this coming weekend. I got 75. And I probably missed a few. The SDGs, as they're called, aim to improve life on earth, especially in poor countries — no more extreme poverty, the eradication of "a wide range of diseases," education and equal rights for all, taking care of the planet. And, clearly, the designers of the goals want them to be, well, sustainable. But the more I thought about that word, the more I wondered: What exactly does the word "sustainable" mean when it comes to development goals?

Read full article here.