Potential consequence of sustainable development : a study based on the Sustainable Development Goals and Timor-Leste

Abstract: Sustainable development has been overpowered by the urge and haste to develop political economic growth over the will to sustain and develop social development. Sustainable development has become the buzz-word of the last centuries and is commonly used as voices around the world are demanding leadership and international policies on poverty, inequality and climate change. Demands on worldwide sustainable development have spread like wildfire and so has the progress of the concept. Aligned with the increased interest, potential consequences of the concept have become a reoccurring discussion and a subject famous for its complexity. The research area of this literature study is the potential consequences of sustainable development. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and Timor-Leste are the specific target fields. The aim of this study is to achieve clear indications of how the consequences of sustainable development influence the outcome of sustainable development implementations by answering two research questions; firstly, what are the major potential consequences of sustainable development? And secondly, how have these consequences influenced the sustainable development implementations in Timor-Leste? This study has shown that the consequences of sustainable development are that the concept is built on an oxymoron, is a result of westernisation, and is rushing development. All consequences were strongly interlinked with each other and were proven to influence the sustainable development implementations in general as well as specifically in Timor-Leste. The consequences were primarily proven to negatively influence the social and local development but also positively influencing the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals in Timor-Leste. The results of this study will help strengthening the strategy of how to further improve sustainable development implementations in the future.