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1999 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Appendix
Glossary
Accounting for sustainable development—an information tracking framework that integrates internal (private) and external (societal) costs and benefits, and supports evaluations of the short- and long-term consequences of activities and projects from environmental, social and economic perspectives. (Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)Integrated decision making—an approach to planning and decision making that ensures progress on each and all of the dimensions—social, economic and environmental—of sustainable development. (Source: A Guide to Green Government )
Strategic environmental assessment—a systematic, proactive process for evaluating the environmental consequences of policy, plan or program proposals in order to ensure that they are fully included and addressed at the earliest appropriate stage of decision making on a par with economic and social considerations. (Source: International Study for the Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment, 1995)
Sustainable development—development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Source: Auditor General Act )