The purpose of this paper is to highlight the emergence and evolution of the sustainable development concept. The main objective of this paper is to address the leading definitions of the sustainable development concept and their role in human society development. In this direction it is stated that the first definitions that addresses to this concept from a variety of perspectives, were developed in the last decades of the twentieth century and the first years of the twenty-one century. Most concepts developed on sustainable development refers to three basic aspects: economic, environmental and the social aspect.