After the United Nations environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 made the term “sustainability” widely known around the world, the word became a popular buzzword by those who wanted to be seen as pro-environmental but who did not really intend to change their behavior. It became a public relations term, an attempt to be seen as abreast with the latest thinking of what we must do to save our planet from widespread harm. But then, in a decade or so, some governments, industries, educational institutions, and organizations started to use the term in a serious manner. In the United States a number of large corporations appointed a vice president for sustainability. Not only were these officials interested in how their companies could profit by producing “green” products, but they were often given the task of making the company more efficient by reducing wastes and pollution and by reducing its carbon emissions.

* buzzword: 유행어 ** abreast: 나란히

While the term “sustainability,” in the initial phase, was popular among those who ___(A)___ to be eco-conscious, it later came to be used by those who would ___(B)___ their pro-environmental thoughts.