Traditionalizing sustainable development: the law, policy and practice in Papua New Guinea

by Kwa, Eric L.

tn 19g7, the World Commission on Environment and Development published its long awaited report "Our Common Future". The report contained a detailed discussion of global envLor1-ent and development problems and a set of recommendations which the bommission suggested could alleviJte many of those problems' At the core of the Commission's recommendation was the 'sustainable development' concept which the Commission shongly suggested countries should adopt as the principal vehicle for overcoming many of the global environmetrtal and social ills' But, what is sustainable development? What are its core values? How can sustainable development be utilized to arreJt and resolve global societal problems? Does sustainable development have a universal application? Under what conditions can sustainable development be successfully implemented? These are some of the key issues that are addressed in this research paper. In this paper I look at the origin and definition of the sustainable development concept and identi$ the relevant principles of the concspt. I also identi$ the tools that are necessary for the implementation of the concept. The underpinning of my argument is that sustainable development can be successfully implemented by countries particularly developing countries bicause the concept has strong roots in traditional cultures which are dominant in developing countries. I explore this position and the various issues that have been identifred above by adopting Papua New Guinea (PNG) a developing country as a case study. 11 To the two gr4at n:rln who humhty,gave up'their tlfe contorls that I and my- " i6rng,r mUfi nna tdRpiiness i,n nru -hev. P"q"lftatu Kue and Gal (fttd) rted friiii iG' qia mri irno vwncn'who awffi& me as they gon ifs' 'Elftse l$tu Xw and Ms, H:Eafrffi RamgiMfturtgffiwa a iii