In the 21^st century sustainable development is an essential issue for the humankind. Modern economic growth began in England in 1760 and eventually spread to the entire world. Before the Industrial Revolution the world was nearly equal in its poverty. Industrial Revolution changed human history and human destiny but increases huge gap between the rich and the poor. At present at least 1.2 billion people live in absolute poverty, whose income is $1.25/day, they live in for mere survival every day, and most of them are in Sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries of Asia. They face the daily life-and-death challenges of insufficient nutrition, lack of health care, unsafe shelters and the lack of safe drinking water and without sanitation facilities. In 2014, population of the world become 7.29 billion and it is estimated that this figure will be 9 billion by the early 2040s. In 2014, about 50% of the populations of the world live in the cities and global urbanization is increasing very rapidly. Global climate change and loss of biodiversity are great problems and it is believed that recent increase of natural calamities is due to global warming. The world is economically developed but not achieved sustainable development. Human has become a serious threat to its own future well-being, and perhaps even survival in the 21^st century.

climate change, Industrial Revolution, Kondratiev wave, planetary boundaries, poverty, sustainable development, sustainable economy, sustainable transport, threat to civilization