Find out more about sustainable development

The most common definition of sustainable development is that provided by the Brundtland Report in 1987:

"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

In other words, it is about solving problems, in such a way that today's solutions do not become tomorrow's problems.

This definition starts with the notion of development. It is the very basis of human evolution. People have always wanted to improve their everyday lives, their living conditions. Thanks to this desire for improvement, the human species has, down the generations, created living conditions that have enabled it to expand.

But the economic, and then industrial, dimension of this development have led to harming the environment. Climate change is a striking example of this! Energy resources have been drastically reduced and great ethical and social inequalities exist throughout the world.

This will have many wide-ranging consequences that are at present impossible to estimate. We may experience in the coming decades major economic and geopolitical crises, population shifts, the appearance of extinct or unknown diseases, etc.

Before finding out what the future holds for us, we have the opportunity and the duty to reduce our impact on the environment and ethical and social disparities, in the hope of also reducing the future effects of our current behaviour. In this way, we will give back a sustainable dimension to our development.

Pressure from consumers and public authorities should ideally be stronger in the years to come, and will encourage businesses to shoulder their environmental and social responsibilities.

Tilman has values that go beyond the economic aspect, and helping to introduce new standards, with the hope that others will follow close behind!

Also read: sustainable development at Tilman
partnership with Action Damien.