Let's examine the term “sustainable development” from this perspective. Development presupposes growth. If we consider a quantity that takes integer values, such as the human population, growth implies that the quantity tends to infinity. Development therefore cannot last! This term is indeed an oxymoron, a combination of two contradictory concepts. For the same reason, so too is the English expression sustainable development, of which développement durable is the (debatable) French translation.
The semantic debate over whether development should be called durable or soutenable has existed since the French version of the UN report Our Common Future (1987). Why was this translation chosen? For political or ideological reasons, or because the terminology committee was weary…?
In France, the word soutenable had long been in use. In 1346, at his Château de Brunoy in the Sénart Forest, Philip VI of Valois thus issued the first forestry regulations: "The masters of waters and forests shall inquire into and inspect all forests and woods, and shall oversee the sales conducted therein so that the said forests may perpetually sustain themselves in good condition."
