Final answer:
Sustainable development is the process of meeting current needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet theirs, ensuring both economic progress and environmental preservation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is known as sustainable development. This concept implies a careful balance between current resource utilization and preserving the natural environment for future use. It encompasses economic growth that occurs without depleting or damaging the environment, ensuring that future generations have the same opportunities and resources available to them as we do today. Sustainable development is not just about conservation, but also about ensuring that technological and institutional changes do not hinder the environmental or resource needs of future populations.