First the evolving perceptions.

The concept of sustainable development did not come up overnight. It is based on tenets expressed almost one and a half centuries ago. In his 1864 classic Man and Nature, George Perkins Marsh tells us, ‘Man can control the environment for good as well as ill’; ‘Wisdom lies in seeking to preserve the balance of nature’; and ‘The present generation has an obligation, above all, to secure the welfare of future generations.’ At the turn of the last century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, asked if he would like a free India to become like Great Britain, replied, ‘Certainly not. If it took Britain half the resources of the globe to be what it is today, how many globes would India need?’ More recently, Rachel Carson in 1962 with her book Silent Spring, which made the general American public aware of the dangers of pesticides, launched the modern popular environment movement.