Sustainable Development-Basic Concept

Sustainable Development : Basic Concept

Sustainable development focuses on improving the quality of life for all the Earth’s citizens without increasing the use of natural resources beyond the capacity of the environment to supply them indefinitely. The sustainable development concept begins with an understanding that inaction has consequences and that we must find innovative ways to change institutional structures and influence individual behaviour.

There is growing understanding of the interconnection between global ecological, economic and political/ social systems and it has become important to consider economic prosperity in an integrated way with social development and environmental protection. Traditional decision-making, which focused primarily on social and/ or economic considerations, with environmental issues usually neglected unless the policy issue specifically pertained to the environment, has been replaced with an integrated decision-making approach, in which environmental issues must be considered along with the social and economic ones.

Sustainable Development is about taking action and changing policy and practice at all levels, from the individual to the international. To make sustainable development a reality, there must be cooperation and change from governments, businesses and communities around the world.

The information contained in this component will provide you an overview of sustainable development and help you to learn:

¨          What sustainable development is and why it’s important;

¨          About different ways of viewing sustainable development;

¨          To embrace sustainable development approaches; and,

¨          What you can do to live a ‘greener’ life.

 

The Brundtland Report

The most commonly used definition today comes from “Our Common Future,” more commonly known as the Brundtland Report, the result of the work done by the World Commission on Environment and Development:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The ultimate goal of SD is the advancement of life within the carrying capacity of the environment and at no expense to future generations. It is based on the logic that as a society works toward progress, its initiatives are more likely to be sustainable if they are based on integrated decision making that acknowledges the interdependent linkages between economic growth, social development and environmental protection. It assesses not only the immediate but the long-term impacts of one on the other, seeks resolution of conflicting views, mitigates any negative impacts, and, ultimately, indicates the best way forward for a sustained result.

Sustainable in this context means to maintain the necessary and desired characteristics of people, their communities and their surrounding environment for the long term (indefinitely).

Development in this context means to bring something to a fuller and better condition. It is a qualitative idea that should be distinguished from growth, which is purely a quantitative physical increase. The combination of these two concepts “sustainable” and “development” embody the world need to preserve and improve certain areas in order for life (people, plants and animals) to endure.

An Evolving Concept

Sustainable development is a generally accepted concept applicable in all walks of life, but it is not a static concept. It is an ongoing process that requires constant re-evaluation of current and future needs, and requires a careful assessment of the strengths of every household, community, or organization to determine priority actions.

Goals may well need to be refined over time in light of new information and events. However, setting provisional targets allows us to develop strategies to avoid critical risks and keep options open for the future.

The Elements of Sustainable Development

The main elements of sustainable development emerged at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden. More than a decade later, the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission, 1987) built on earlier work by encouraging sustainable development in three inter-related areas:

                

Equity

A commitment to equity involves the fair distribution of the costs and benefits of development between the rich and the poor, between generations, and among nations. Equity also implies that we all have the means to meet basic needs, and that we are all entitled to basic rights. Sustainable development acknowledges that if we ignore our effects on others in an interdependent world, we do so at our own peril.

Integrated Decision-making

Sustainable development essentially asks us to undertake a new paradigm of decision-making. It challenges us to view the issues facing us through a more holistic and forward-looking lens. Traditional decision-making focused primarily on social and/or economic considerations, with environmental issues usually neglected unless the policy issue specifically pertained to the environment.

Now, environmental issues must be considered along with the social and economic ones. Integrated decision-making of this nature is important at both the strategic (policy) level, and at the level of project implementation.

Quality of Life

Quality of life is important to all peoples. Like Canadians, others want an economy that performs well. A healthy economy meets demands for job creation, economic security and improved living standards. It also allows countries to pursue the social objectives that are key elements of their quality of life – including health, education, safety and security systems – now and for future generations.

Different Ways of Viewing Sustainable Development

Visual Metaphors

Sustainable development is a multifaceted concept that can be difficult to communicate to others. People who work in this field often use visual metaphors as a way of representing and communicating these complexities.

The four visual metaphors introduced in this section represent different ways of “seeing” sustainable development. No single metaphor is better than another; each has its place in helping us to understand sustainable development in all its complexity.

The Mobile

The mobile is a useful metaphor when trying to explain the interdependency of sustainable development activities. Each lobe on the mobile represents an aspect of human development.

When changes are made in one area, the equilibrium of the entire mobile is affected – for the better it is hoped. The entire structure remains in motion until a new equilibrium is found.

The mobile metaphor is a useful reminder that the full range of possible consequences should be considered carefully before implementing a development initiative.

Lenses in a Sphere

The Lenses in a Sphere metaphor helps to capture the idea that the perspective you begin with colours your impression of the problem, possible solutions, and likely outcomes.

For instance, looking at sustainable development through an environment lens is likely to highlight environmental needs and suggest environmental approaches – perhaps to the exclusion of other possibilities. That would also be true if you looked through the political lens, or social development lens.

The implication is that every need should be viewed through as many lenses as possible in order to understand the need in all its dimensions and to fashion an integrated response.

The Egg of Sustainability

In the “egg of sustainability”, humanity is represented as the yolk and the ecosystem as the egg white. Together, they represent a complete, but fragile entity.

This metaphor is used to communicate the idea that people are an integral part of an ecosystem and that the well-being of both people and the ecosystem need to be improved together. Only when both the human and the ecosystem conditions are good or improving do you have a sustainable society.

A System in Balance

The Systems Perspective of sustainable development is borrowed from systems engineering, which solves multifaceted problems by applying knowledge from a variety of disciplines in effective combinations.

The systems perspective recognizes that there are a number of distinct circles of sustainable development activity, each with its own theories, priorities, and activities. However, when addressing complex human development needs, it is rare to find one of these needs in isolation. It is helpful to think of the circles overlapping – sometimes to a greater extent, other times to a lesser extent. In the places where one or more of the circles overlap, you find hybrid approaches that draw from the strengths of each intersecting discipline.

Importance of Sustainable Development

The Sustainable Development Imperative

As the interconnectedness of our lives is made more apparent, the need for a modus operandi that assesses, as much as possible, the short and long-term impacts of any action and mitigates the negative factors, seems apparent. Sustainable development is such a modus operandi.

Thinning Ozone Layer

Emissions in the North have thinned the protective ozone layer over Antarctica, increasing the rates of skin cancer in the south..

Financial Crises

Financial Crises in Asia have threatened the economies of other countries around the world.

Ethnic Violence

Ethnic violence in Central Africa has led to refugee migrations that are overwhelming the support systems of nearby regions.

Deforestation

At the current rate of deforestation, the Amazon Forest could cease to exist within one hundred or two hundred years.

Desertification

Africa and many other parts of the world are affected by desertification, the loss of vegetation, organisms, and the expansion of degraded soil, leading to severe food shortages.

Threatened Marine Biodiversity

All around the world, much of the world’s marine biodiversity face threats from activities and events such as coastal development, over-fishing, inland pollution and global climate change.

Radioactive Contaminates

Radioactive contamination, a result of the nuclear industry’s careless past, has damaged several regions in Russia. Lake Karachay is now considered to be one of the most polluted spots on Earth.

Environmental Impact of Fast-food Restaurant Chains

The proliferation of fast-food restaurants in North America is having a major environmental impact. Intensive breeding of livestock and poultry for these restaurants leads to deforestation, land degradation, and contamination of water sources and other natural resources.

Air Pollution

The prevalence of heavy industry, the intensive use of low quality fossil fuels, substantial lack of modern production and environmental technologies, as well as a recent rapid growth in the number of passenger cars is causing air quality problems to be the top environmental priority in Europe.

The Need for Sustainable Development

Ultimately, SD considerations incorporated into policies, work plans and actions will help address pressing sustainable development needs around the world in the knowledge that without a decent quality of life, supported by sustained broad-based economic growth, people cannot maintain environmental protection measures.

What can we do?

Time is running out. We are already faced with full-scale emergencies through ‘freshwater shortages, tropical forest destruction, species extinction, urban air pollution, and climate change.’ You could help to increase environmental awareness and motivate the people to live a ‘greener’ life by pursue these steps :

1.          Use Energy Efficiently : Energy is essential to our way of life, yet energy production and consumption have significant environmental implications. Energy conservation can help reduce health and environmental impacts.

2.          Use Green Driving : Change your driving habits by avoiding unnecessary idling when driving, car pooling with friends and co-workers, and walking, cycling or using public transit wherever possible.

3.          Reduce use of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) : The ozone layer is a concentration of ozone molecules in the earth’s stratosphere that filters the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Some ODSs occur naturally in the environment (for example, chlorine from volcanoes); however, most are man-made and more damaging than those that occur naturally. Some common sources of ODSs are refrigerants (chlorofluorocarbons), solvents for cleaning foam blowing agents, aerosol solvents and propellants, fire extinguishers, and pesticides.

4.          Manage solid waste in order to reduce health and environmental impacts.

5.          Use Water Wisely.

6.          Assist in educating and training colleagues in your organization.