**Levente Hufnagel**

**1**

Section 1

Introduction

Szent István University, Laboratory of Biometrics and Quantitative Ecology, Institute of Crop Production, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary

Section 1 Introduction

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**1. Introduction**

sustainable ones.

Introductory Chapter:

gas emission, or the depletion of natural resources.

The Need to Change the

Paradigm - Sustainability and

*María José Bastante-Ceca, José Luis Fuentes-Bargues,* 

Development at the 21st Century

*Mihai Florin-Constantin, Corneliu Iatu and Levente Hufnagel*

Since the second half of the twentieth century, the big processes of globalization of the economy, coupled with the development of new technologies and the increase of the population, have led to the emergence of major environmental problems whose importance transcends beyond the limits of the countries, in a manner that we could say that they are global impacts. These problems include, among others, the ozone layer depletion, the climate change due to the greenhouse

Industry, as well as modern societies, must face this challenge, changing their consumption patterns, increasing product life, banishing the concept of "use and throw away," and changing from the traditional productive systems to a more

Sustainable Development's most recognized definition was stablished at the

"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• The concept of 'needs', in particular, the essential needs of the world's poor, to

• The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organiza-

Traditionally, Sustainable Development concept has been symbolized as three circles representing the triple bottom line of sustainability: society, economy, and environment. Nevertheless, different authors have proposed alternative representations, to consolidate the concept of society, environment, and economy as pillars of

tion on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which went into force on 1 January 2016, after the Paris Agreement was adopted at UN Conference of Climate Change held in Paris in November 2015. This Agenda includes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have the aim to end poverty, to fight inequality, and to help countries to promote pros-

perity while preserving the environment at the same time (**Figure 2**).

publication *Our Common Future*, known as *Brundtland Report* [1], as:

which overriding priority should be given; and

the sustainability, as can be seen in **Figure 1**.
