UC Davis Law and Jindal Global Law School Conference: Law and Sustainable Development WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND WHAT IS ITS RELATIONSHIP TO LAW? The most frequently used definition of sustainable development is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report: Sustainable development is 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 which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs. Law plays a critical role in the achievement of sustainable development. During this one-day conference, scholars from a variety of fields including corporate law, intellectual property, human rights and environmental law will come together to discuss the role of law - including soft law, hard law and governance structures - in achieving and implementing sustainable development. 1:00 - 2:00P.M. | Panel 3: Human Rights and Sustainable Development On certain measures of aggregate income and wealth, the world is as prosperous and as “developed” as it has ever been. On the other hand, many have long questioned the extent to which these financial measures are meaningful and to what extent they obscure other paramount concerns, including human rights. That questioning has taken on urgency in light of turbulent political landscapes across all regions of the world. This panel explores alternative definitions, mechanisms, and volatilities of “development” and bridges them with the contemporary human experience, in South Asia and beyond. This panel will also consider the implications of taking a human rights approach to the issue of development, and consider some of the challenges arising from the fact that many international discussions and processes have begun to employ development language as an alternative to rights language. UC Davis Law Moderator & Panelists: Shayak Sarkar, Acting Professor of Law (Moderator) Karima Bennoune, Professor of Law & UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights Lisa Pruitt, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law Jindal Panelist: Dr. Arpita Gupta, Research Associate