Introduction In every economy, the main objective of the policy makers is to achieve development within the country. Many countries have employed various ways in order to achieve their development goals. In their efforts, the main target of the public policy makers is to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich. The gap between the poor and the rich is the major criterion that is used to measure the position of an economy in terms of development. The more the disparities among the poor, the high is the level of poverty in an economy. Despite of the efforts employed by many organizations in promoting development, disparities among the poor still remains extremely high. Many policy makers have been advocating for sustainable development as the best way to promote development within an economy. However, this has been opposed on the ground that sustainable development robs the poor world of the possibility of convergence with the rich world. Discussion Sustainable development can be viewed as the process where the resources are utilized in such a way that it promotes preservation of the environment while meeting the present as well as the future needs 1 . The advocates of the sustainable development are determined to realize the economic environment where development efforts include environment protection, social progress, and economic growth. The main concern here is to avoid environmental degradation for the sake of the present as well as the future generation. In the contemporary world, the question of globalization has raised critical issues on environment raising the need for a sustainable environment. The rate of environmental degradation has increased significantly, the fact which has raised the concern of the policy makers. Although sustained development has paved way for convergence between the poor and the richer world, it has in some cases resulted in increased inequalities among the people. It has led to increased gap between the poor world and the rich world. This is because majority from the poor countries over rely on the natural capital as their main source of livelihood. Sustainable development and poverty; Environmental issues As already noted, the main goal of the policy makers in every economy is to promote development. Many economies have employed sustainable development policies in order to achieve their development goals effectively. However, sustainable development may contribute to increased difference between the poor and the rich 2 . Sustainable development can be seen to increase disparities at various levels. First, it creates disparities at the personal level where some individuals get richer. Sustainable environment also increases disparities at regional level as well as at the national level. According to the international trade arrangements and specifications, more emphasis is given to the protection of biodiversity, ozone layers and desertification through adoption of sustainable growth 3 . However, these international arrangements have paid very little attention on the strategies of harmonizing trade as well as environment trade and development 4 . As a result, these policies have led to increased disparities among the poor and the rich countries. Most less developed economies relies on the debts from the developed organizations in order to meet most of their needs. In most case