Obstacles to Sustainable Development in Global Contexts

The aim of the presentation is to identify some obstacles to sustainable development. One basic idea is that sustainability is threatened by poor coordination of action and institutional governance. A further claim is that a certain sustainability discourse, notably the Promethean, is itself a threat to sustainable development. Two major problems are identified: 1) the problem of ‘difference-blindness’ in glossing over relevant differences between affluent and poor countries, and 2) a strong belief in one overarching model for overcoming the problem of limits by technological fixes. This further implies a tension within the democratic equality norm, and the politics following from it. A claim is put for that sustainability politics seem to require a shift in sustainability discourses in order to address the differences between notably poor and affluent countries more adequately.