PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA

MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Saad Dahleb University, Blida 1
Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences

Teaching aids for the subject

Environment and Sustainable Development

For 2nd year Common Core students

Natural and Life Sciences domain

Biological Sciences branch

Marine and Inland Hydrobiology branch

Agronomy branch

Dr. Mohammed Bouriach

Academic year 2024/2025

Preface
This course deals with the environment and sustainable development for
students of the 2nd year Field Science of Nature and Life Sciences is in
accordance with the new Programs established by the Ministry of Higher
Education and Scientific Research whose application has been in effective
since the academic year 2018-2019.

While it is necessary to educate future generations on the principles of

respect and preservation of our ecological environment, the objectives of
this course are to raise students' awareness of development issues,
contents and actions. It is a matter of making them aware that it is possible
to act for the prevention of the environment through their training, as well
as their scale on their consumption their daily activities and their society.
During his university training, in this course the student will have
knowledge on sustainable development is currently one of the answers
that emerges worldwide, to face the current conjunction of the major
ecological, economic and societal issues of the world
CHAPTER ONE
Chapter 1 Environment and Sustainable Development Dr. Bouriach Med

1. Definition of the environment

The environment is defined as the set of elements that surround a species. Some
of these elements contribute to ensuring the natural needs of the species. The
environment can also be defined as the composition of physical, chemical or biological
conditions that act on living organisms and human activities.

1.1. Components of the environment

Generally, the environment is considered as the set of factors that have an

influence on the environment of human beings. This definition places man at the center
of civilization. A much broader notion of the environment concerns the protection of
the natural environment, land-use planning and the protection of natural or historic
sites.

In 1967, a first European directive legally defined the environment as: water, air
and soil, as well as the relationships between these elements on one hand, and with all
living organisms on the other.

In Algeria, the legislation defines the environment in Law No. 03-10 of July 19th,
2003 as follows: "abiotic and biotic natural resources such as air, atmosphere, water,
soil and subsoil, fauna and flora including genetic heritage, interactions between said
resources as well as sites, landscapes and natural monuments."

1.2. Definition of sustainable development

This involves combining environmental and economic considerations into

decision-making processes. The Brundtland Commission postulated that long-term
development is only viable if it reconciles respect for the environment, social equity
and economic profitability (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Diagram explaining that sustainable development

Source: [Link]

It established a definition of sustainable development that is now universally

accepted: “a mode of development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Sustainable development would be characterized by:

• An approach focused on the future of man and nature.

• Respect for the environment, even the precautionary principle.
• Ideas of development and sustainability.
1.3. Meaning of development

The notion of sustainable development is entirely contained in Agenda 21

(Agenda 21: Document drawn up at the Rio conference in 1992 detailing the actions to
be taken in terms of sustainable development, the number 21 refers to the 21st century):
Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are
entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.). The right to
development must be realized in a manner that equitably meets the developmental
and environmental needs of present and future generations. Respect for nature is
affirmed (to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection must be an
integrated part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation).
international mutual assistance is specified: (all States and all peoples must cooperate

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in the essential task of eliminating poverty, which constitutes an indispensable

condition for sustainable development, in order to reduce the differences in living
standards and better meet the needs of the majority of the peoples of the world)

1.4. The main dimensions of the environmental crisis:

1.4.1. Human demography

The history of humanity was marked by very slow population growth, and it
took until the early nineteenth century (the 1920s) for the world population to reach 1
billion and 2 billion individuals respectively in 1950. There were 2.5 billion human
beings on the earth. However, during the last century, population grew much faster: 3
billion in 1960 and 7 billion in 2011. At the beginning of 2016, there were 7.4 billion
people in the world and 83 million more by the end of the year (a difference between
140 million births and 57 million deaths). The UN Population Division (UNPD)
average projection, which assumes that fertility will follow historical trends, shows
that world population will exceed 8 billion in 2024, 9 billion in 2038 and 10 billion in
2056 (which would be like adding China and India to the current population).

Admittedly, these projections are uncertain. The low UNPD projection (lower
fertility of half a child) indicates that the world population will not reach 8 billion by
2026, while the high projection (higher fertility of half a child) indicates that it will
reach this level in 2022. But in any case, population growth is creating a trajectory that
has no precedent in history.

Over the next 40 years, population growth will be 99% concentrated in the less
developed regions: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (excluding Japan),
Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Africa is home to one-sixth of the world’s
population today, but it will account for 54% of global population growth by 2050. Its
population is expected to catch up with the most developed regions (North America –
Canada and the US in particular – Australia, Europe and New Zealand) by 2018 and
almost double by 2050.

Other significant developments are expected by the middle of the 2050’s:

❖ India will be the most populous country in 2022 ahead of China;

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❖ Nigeria will have 400 million people, more than twice the population today,
and will be the third most populous country ahead of Brazil, the U.S., Indonesia
and Pakistan;
❖ Population will decrease by 10% in Russia and increase at a slightly lower rate
than the global average of 32% in Mexico, so these two countries will give up
their place in the list of the 10 most populous countries to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (+153%) and Ethiopia (+90%); strong population growth
is weighing on ecosystems and natural resources, threatening the security of
food, energy and water supply, Promoting environmental degradation
Sustainable development is based on a fundamental idea that the planet’s
resources are not unlimited, while population continues to grow (2 billion
inhabitants in 1960, more than 6 billion today and 9 billion in 2050 according to
the UN forecasts).

Figure 2: The alarmist forecast curves of the Club of Rome report. Source :
[Link]

he Economics of Climate Change report written by Nicholas Stern for the UK

government in 2006 showed (figure 2) that men are multiplying and filling the world
with their artifacts, their pressure on the environment and the entire biosphere has

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increased dramatically. This is measured by the ecological footprint, an environmental

assessment indicator developed by Mathis Wacker nagel in 1994. Widely popularized
by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), the concept has been gaining in
popularity. The calculation of the ecological footprint shows that, since 1975, humanity
has destroyed more living resources through consumption or pollution than the
environment is able to regenerate. This overcapacity implies that our development is
currently not sustainable.

Currently we already use 20% more land annually can produce, with excessive
urbanization with rural exodus; half of the population lives in slums; unemployment;
poverty according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO,
2011) nearly one billion people today suffer from chronic hunger; the link between
population growth and the risk of fluctuations in agricultural production must be
addressed.

The earth would have to be 1.5 times larger to offset our current pressure on the
environment. Rich countries have an excessive ecological footprint, it would take for
example 3 Lands if all humanity had a development comparable to that of France and
more than 5 Lands with a kind of life comparable to that of Australia

1.4.2. Global warming

Global warming is a fact: increased greenhouse gas emissions cause clearly

measurable rise in the surface temperature of the lower atmosphere (Figure 3). Global
warming, also known as global warming, is a phenomenon of the increase in average
ocean and atmospheric temperatures over several years on a global scale. Global
surface temperature is likely to increase from an additional 1.1 to 6.4 C° over the 21st
century. Not all GHGs contribute equally to the greenhouse effect. Indeed, their global
warming power (GWP) and their life in the atmosphere are different.

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Chapter 1 Environment and Sustainable Development Dr. Bouriach Med

Figure 3: Global warming, Source: [Link]

GWP is the ability of gas to retain heat around the earth, returning it back to the
ground. The GHG of GHPs is assessed by comparing them with the GWP of CO2, the
reference gas. The CO2-equivalent (CO2e) is therefore a measure of GHGs, which
allows for a comparison of the impact of each GHG according to the GWP. For
example, for the same quantity, N2O heats up 310 times more than CO2, so 1 kg of
emitted N2O corresponds to 310 kg of CO2e. The atmospheric residence time is the
average GHG residence time (Figure 4). It is clear that today’s GHG emissions will
contribute to climate change for decades or even hundreds of years. The development
of modern human activities, including transportation, industry, deforestation and
agriculture, is responsible for massive emissions of three major GHGs: carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The concentration of these three gases
has increased significantly since the industrial era: 35% for CO2, 148% for CH4 and
18% for N2O (MDDEP 2010). This imbalance changes the temperatures on the surface
of the Earth, causing many impacts to the environment.

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The countries that emit most greenhouse gases are rich and industrialized
countries like the United States or European countries. Emissions per capita in rich
countries are much higher than in poorer countries (see below). Developing countries
are still far from catching up with rich countries in per capita emissions.

Figure 4: Bar graph showing the number of tonnes of carbon dioxide produced by
people in selected countries. Source: IEA

Warming threatens natural ecosystems, especially by altering biodiversity.

Rising temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns can cause: sea level rise,
climate zone and biotope shifts, distribution of water resources and agricultural
difficulties, Difficulties in adapting ecosystems and people, and "mixed" weather
events (cyclones, floods...)

Several sectors of the economy are severely fragile due to these phenomena
such as agriculture (increased exposure of plants to water stress), fisheries, forestry
and tourism are the most threatened, production deficits undermine the food security
of populations.

The main international agreement is the UN Framework Convention on

Climate Change (1992). Its 1997 Kyoto protocol sets out differentiated emission

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reduction or limitation targets for six GHGs, by 2008-2012 and for the 1990 base year.
The Kyoto Protocol, which has been ratified by 177 countries.

Since 2005 (COP 11, Montreal), when the Kyoto Protocol entered into force,
negotiations on a post-2012 climate policy have continued, starting with the adoption
of the Bali Roadmap (2007) and the Copenhagen Accord (2009). The main elements of
the Bali Action Plan are based on:

➢ The need for joint efforts over the long term;

➢ The links between climate change, economic growth and sustainable
development goals;
➢ The impact of climate change on key economic sectors (energy, transport,
industry, agriculture, forestry, waste management);
➢ The potential for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
(REDD);
➢ Financing and technology transfer needs to support mitigation and adaptation
actions in developing countries;
o Compliance with developed country mitigation commitments;
o Post-Kyoto 2012 issues

The main concerns are related to the effects of increasing concentrations The
main issues are limiting CO2 and other GHG emissions and stabilizing their
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that limits anthropogenic disturbance
dangerous of the climate system. This requires increased efforts to implement national
and international strategies on GHG emissions and a greater decoupling of GHG
emissions from economic growth.

Emissions in industrialized countries should be reduced by at least 25-40% by

2020 compared to 1990 levels, to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees.

1.4.3. Fossil fuels (non-renewable):

The history of energy shows how important it is for quality of life. Different
societies have been dependent on the type of energy they use and have had to change
or modify their sources of energy at some point. Before, energy was used mainly for

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cooking and heating. Currently, it is also used to generate electricity and in transport
to operate internal combustion engines. It is also used for heating and cooling.
Humanity is totally dependent on energy at the present time. Energy sources are
divided into two types: conventional or fossil sources and renewable energies.
Conventional energy remains the world’s leading source of energy. Most of these
energies are produced from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels produce energy through
combustion, making them highly polluting. The conversion of this energy is done in
boilers, ovens, internal combustion engines or turbines. The (table 1) shows the world’s
reserves of non-conventional energy sources and the estimated number of years of
production remaining.

Table 1: Global non-renewable energy reserves by source in 2011.

World reserves (%) Number of years of production at this rate

Oil 23 58

Natural gas 18 57

Coal 56 145

Uranium 3 48

Coal

Coal is a sedimentary rock formed by the accumulation of organic matter

derived from plants over thousands of years. Coal consists of volatile matter, carbon
dioxide and sulphur and nitrogen containing species. It may also contain more or less
moisture depending on its source. The fixed carbon content is the mass of residues in
a sample after removal of materials Volatile and water. It contains mainly carbon, as
well as hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur in smaller amounts.

Petroleum

Oil is currently one of the world’s leading sources of energy. It is used in a wide
range of products. Oil comes from the accumulation of bacteria and algae that have

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been in the earth’s depths for more than 15 million years, which then turn into
hydrocarbon molecules. After refining, the oil is used to manufacture dozens of
products: (gasoline, diesel, kerosene, plastic, lubricants)

Natural gas

Natural gas is a mixture of gases with high predominance of methane CH4 (up
to 99%), ethane C2H6 and propane C3H8. It also contains nitrogen, carbon dioxide and
H2S and oxygen compounds such as phenols and alcohols. Natural gas consumption
is increasing as it replaces oil. Natural gas derivatives are mainly hydrogen, helium,
methanol and some sulphur compounds

Nuclear energy

Nuclear energy is produced by the fission of natural radioactive elements such

as uranium and thorium. Uranium can be fissioned as soon as it is extracted in its
natural state, while thorium must first be converted in a nuclear reactor. All isotopes
of these elements are radioactive. Uranium contains 99.2175% 238U, 0.72% 235U and
0.0055% 234U. The raw uranium that exists as yellow-coloured U3O8 uranium oxide is
treated to recover pure uranium. 1 tonne of crude uranium gives 1 to 2 kg of pure
uranium. The remainder consists of radon and other products that must be treated as
nuclear waste.

1.4.4. Depletion of natural resources:

The earth is full of natural resources that humans use either directly or as raw
materials to produce energy or other consumer products. In 2005, the UN solemnly
warned that an unreasonable exploitation of the planet’s resources was endangering
all humanity. Fishing is one of the sectors where nature cannot compensate for men’s
borrowing a fish overexploitation according to FAO (United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization) (figure 5) indicates that 9 to 10% of fish stocks in the wild
are depleted or being reconstituted; that 15 to 18% of stocks are overfished and do not
offer any possibility of increasing production in 2001 the Reykjavik conference defined
the rules for responsible fishing including the period of ban on fishing (biological rest)

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Figure 5: Global fish production and aquaculture. source: [Link] -

[Link]

1.4.5. Drinking water

Water is the largest part of our planet. It exists in nature in different forms:
groundwater, and surface waters such as rivers, seas and oceans. Groundwater
reserves that are very deep underground and take hundreds of years to build up are
the source of groundwater. In the Earth, water can be potable or not. 97% of the water
is salty. Drinking water represents only 1% of the water on earth. Drinking water
supplies are to be preserved as they become increasingly scarce and difficult to
replenish, especially in arid or desert areas.

Several countries around the world are suffering from drought or lack of water.
Thousands of people die every year from diseases transmitted by water that is not safe
for consumption.

Figure 6: Global water use, Source: [Link]

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Only 0.26% of the world’s drinking water is directly exploited, illegally

distributed (across vast arid and semi-arid regions), with approximately 1.4 billion
people without clean water, while others waste it. Intensive agriculture leads to
uncontrolled consumption and unprecedented pollution. Instead of promoting new
ways of life, governments in rich countries are embarking on pharaonic projects such
as dams and massive water transfers between regions ...

The average daily water consumption is 150 liters in developed countries, 300
liters in the USA and 30 liters per day for Africans. Several countries drought Sulphur
2.6 billion people are thirsty, thousands of people die every year from diseases water-
borne, FAO has warned in various reports of the polluting effects of insecticides and
fertilizers damage surface water and groundwater supplies.

Algeria suffers from water scarcity. Water flows are characterized by significant
seasonal and inter-annual irregularity with a high flood velocity. Sustainable
development means developing information systems, risk management and natural
disaster forecasting (implementation of early warning and control systems and
emergency response plans.

1.4.6. Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of the living world in all its
forms. It is defined in Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity as the
Variability of living organisms of any origin including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine
and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes to which they belong; this
includes diversity within and between species as well as ecosystems.”

Algeria covers an area of 23,817,741 km 2. Although it has a Mediterranean

coastline of 1,622 km, it remains an essentially arid and even desert country, with
borders more than 2,000 km from its northern margin. As such, it includes a significant
part of the Sahara, the largest desert in the world. It is one of the few Mediterranean
countries that contains the majority of bioclimatic floors defined by Emberger (1955,
1971). Indeed, it goes from the humid and sub-humid floor in the Tellian north of the
country, semi-arid to arid in its mid-steppic and Saharan in the southern part. The

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bioclimatic diversity is added to the geological and pedological diversity. Mountains,

plains, chotts, sebkhas, glacis, lakes, oases, are all geographically and ecologically
differentiated areas that favor the installation of a relatively important biodiversity.
Biodiversity is represented by 13,318 species, of which 4,250 are marine and 9,068
terrestrial.

Flora

Algeria has 5,402 plant species with a significant floristic richness. 540 forage
species and 646 medicinal species. The marine flora diversity consists mainly of 600
species of algae.

Some species have economic interest: aromatic and medicinal plants, textile
species, resistant and adapted to salinity and aridity. This floristic diversity,
distributed in different ecosystems (forests, steppes, wild areas, deserts, sea, mountain
ranges, etc.) is threatened by certain agricultural practices, the construction of
infrastructures, urbanization and deforestation.

Wildlife

In terms of faunal diversity, 47 out of 107 species of mammals are threatened

and protected, and 68 out of 336 bird species are protected; the same is true for 39
species of raptors. The reptile census does not exist, but 8 species are protected. The
diversity of marine fauna is also noteworthy: red coral, unique in the Mediterranean,
but also 40 species of cartilaginous fish and 200 species of bony fish (50 exploited).

Why protect biodiversity:

➢ It contributes to the supply of many food products, raw materials for industry,
medicines, building materials and household uses.

➢ It is the basis of all agricultural production, both in terms of the number of

species used and the many varieties patiently selected; it is indispensable for
the improvement of plants and domestic animals.

➢ It generates economic activity linked to tourism and the observation of species

in their environment or the attraction of beautiful landscapes.

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➢ It plays a role in regulating the major physico-chemical equilibria of the

biosphere, particularly in terms of carbon and oxygen production and
recycling.

➢ It contributes to soil fertility and protection, as well as regulating the

hydrological cycle.

➢ It absorbs and decomposes various organic and mineral pollutants, for

example, water purification.

1.4.7. Agriculture

Agriculture, which depends on the natural resources of climate, soil, water

and biodiversity, and contributes to basic human needs, can be both a cause and a
victim of environmental degradation and the over-consumption of natural resources.
global climate change or technological and health risks.

Today, a major environmental issue for the balance of the planet is that of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this global challenge, agriculture can play an
important role by stabilising or even improving its carbon footprint and reducing its
dependence on fossil fuels. At more local scales, there are problems of pollutant
releases into the environment. Although some of the effects are exported outside
agro-ecosystems, and affect other agents, farmers are often the first to be affected by
the consequences of these emissions, either in their own health, in the operation of
the farm and its environment.

Sustainable agriculture is economically viable, ethically sustainable for our

generation and the future, and for the planet as a whole. It is open to society,
multifunctional, producing quality food and services, partner of nature therefore
economical, autonomous and non-polluting, actor of the global management of the
territory, generator of employment, motor of dynamic.

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