Meeting our needs without compromising the ones of future generations is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Emblematic answer to this challenge, sustainable development has become an inescapable ideal to pursue. Over the past thirty years, it has been legally recognized in uncountable international treaties, European texts, and national constitutions and laws. Yet, the concept of sustainable development has purposely remained vague, allowing for contradictory visions of it to emerge. In practice, the anthropocentric approach has prevailed in the political arenas since the publication of the Rio Declaration. Sustainable development hence encompasses an environmental, an economic, and a social pillar, all of which shall coexist as equivalent entities in a balanced manner (three-pillar metaphor). However, this vision is potentially missing its objective of not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, as its application often ignores the fact that ultimate limits on human conduct are set by the ecological basis on which all life and all human activity depends. In light of the continued degradation of the planet, a growing number of scholars advocate for a strong sustainability framework in which human activities respect the natural limits, so that we do not irreversibly impair the integrity and proper functioning of the Earth. Mindful of this imperative, sustainable development legal provisions should be interpreted so as to favor a strong sustainability framework. An evolutionary interpretation in light of new scientific knowledge could help to move in that direction, even when the provisions in question were adopted with
an anthropocentric vision.