雅思阅读

📖 Reading Passage

The concept of 'sustainable development' has evolved significantly since its popularization in the 1987 Brundtland Report. Initially, it emphasized the balance between economic growth and environmental protection for future generations. However, recent scholarly critiques argue that this framework often prioritizes economic metrics over ecological integrity. For instance, the reliance on GDP as a measure of progress fails to account for natural capital depletion. Moreover, the implementation of sustainable policies frequently encounters political resistance due to short-term economic costs. Consequently, some researchers advocate for a paradigm shift towards 'degrowth', which proposes a deliberate reduction in overconsumption to achieve long-term ecological stability. This perspective challenges the conventional assumption that continuous economic expansion is inherently beneficial, suggesting instead that well-being may be decoupled from material growth through social and institutional reforms.