The concept of sustainable development has become a truly transnational principle. But it is not difficult to define generally accepted meaning. Furthermore, the definition of sustainable development is neither precise nor coherent enough to be accepted by states as a principle. so there has given to much debate about their normative status. whatever the normative status of the concept may be, sustainable development has been embodied in almost all international documents, binding as well as non-binding. This article analyzes the historical development of sustainable development as a legal concept which shows that has been recognized both by international and national legislation, nonetheless its ambiguous legal status. According to the world commission on environment and development(WCED) definition, sustainable development as ' development which meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet theirs' it doesn't make reference to environmental protection, but contains several elements to be taken into consideration, specifically, intra-generational equity, inter-generational equity, the long term impact of ' developmental' decision, and the integration of environmental protection into the development process. These analysis provides that conceptualized in the instruments of the environment and development debate, regarding as their normative force in the sustainable development field. As for the sustainable development's legal status, there are some opinion contend that it is part of international law with normative status and it is nothing more than a concept. The majority argue that sustainable development has been widely accepted by various actors in the international community and is a role to help decision making. However, they contend that it falls short of an international legal principle binding states. Throughout these argument , the question arises as to what are the extent normative force for states. This issue depends on the normative status of sustainable development as to its meaning of integration. In the sense of integrating environment and development, sustainable development has been accepted by many states, at least as a tool for decision making. especially, in case EIA, many national laws incorporate the EIA process, which is widely considered an states indicates its something more than concept. It follow that sustainable development has not been completely rejected for concerning legally binding principle. Consequently, sustainable development seems to have attained, regardless of its imprecise legal status, wide recognition and influenced international environmental law as their normative force. In addition to, article argue that sustainable development needs to be formally incorporated into multilateral environmental agreements, such as UNFCCC(the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention) which is applicable as a legal regime, reflecting a set of binding international rules.