The concept of sustainable development and its critics

The article deals with the concept of sustainable development, which in many ways continues to dominate contemporary development discourse. It is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and emerged as a response to global challenges such as resource depletion and anthropogenic pressures. However, there is growing criticism of sustainable development because of the concept's focus on economic goals and its one-sided treatment of the environmental dimension. There are also philosophical contradictions: development does not fit well with sustainability because of its non-linear nature and cyclical-wave nature, so crisis is an inherent feature of development. Alternatives to sustainable development are gradually being developed, in particular, the concept of responsible development based on moral and ethical motivation.