World Development Report 2003 is about sustainable development. It is
about people and how we deal with each other. It is about our home planet and
its fabric of life. And it is about our aspirations for prosperity and
posterity.
Any serious attempt at reducing poverty requires sustained economic growth in
order to increase productivity and income in developing countries. But there is
more to development than just economic growth-much more. This Report argues
that ensuring sustainable development requires attention not just to economic
growth but also to environmental and social issues. Unless the transformation
of society and the management of the environment are addressed integrally along
with economic growth, growth itself will be jeopardized over the longer term.
Environment and social issues, when not addressed, accumulate over time and
have consequences that do not show up in the shorter time horizons typical of
economic policymaking. That is why this Report adopts a longer time horizon of
20 to 50 years. Within this time frame it is possible to identify environmental
and social problems-local, national, and global-that can have very costly or
even irreversible consequences if not addressed immediately. For other
problems, where the consequences are not irreversible, the longer time horizon
provides the lead time to start changing attitudes and institutions and so make
it possible to respond before the problems become crises.
In short, this Report takes a comprehensive, longer term, and dynamic view of
sustainability, with a clear focus on poverty reduction.
