Sustainable
Development:
Our common future
Introduction
• The Term “susTainable developmenT” firsT came
to prominence in the world Conservation
Strategy (WCS) in 1980.
• It achieved a new status with the publication of
two significant reports by Brundtland on: North
and South: a programme for survival and
common crisis (1985) .
• Our Common Future (1983) and has gained even
greater attention since the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
Definition
• Sustainable development can be defined as an
approach to the economic development of a country
without compromising with the quality of the
environment for future generations.
• In the name of economic development, the price of
environmental damage is paid in the form of land
degradation, soil erosion, air and water pollution,
deforestation, etc.
• This damage may surpass the advantages of having
more quality output of goods and services.
How sustainability works
• Sustainability encourages businesses to frame decisions
in terms of environmental, social, and human impact for
the long-term, rather than on short-term gains such as
nexT quarTer’s earnings reporT. iT influences Them To
consider more factors than simply the immediate profit
or loss involved. Increasingly, companies have issued
sustainability goals such as commitment to zero-waste
packaging by a certain year, or to reduce overall
emissions by a certain percentage.
• These companies can achieve their sustainability needs
by cutting emissions, lowering their energy usage,
sourcing products from fair-trade organizations, and
ensuring their physical waste is disposed of properly
and with as small a carbon footprint as possible.
Importance of sustainable
development
1. Provides Essential Human Needs
• The explosion of population means people will have to
scramble for the limited life essentials like food,
shelter, and water. Adequate provision of these basic
needs almost entirely hinges on infrastructure capable
of sustaining them for a long time.
• If governments insist on utilizing fossil fuel-based
sources of energy instead of renewable and sustainable
options, the cost and environmental effects of supplying
these basic needs would become a tall order.
2. Manage Climate Change
• climaTe change can be miTigaTed by susTainable developmenT
practices. Sustainable development practices seek to reduce the
use of fossil-based sources of fuel like oil, natural gas, and
coal. Fossil fuel sources of energy are unsustainable since they
will deplete in the future and are responsible for the emission of
greenhouse gasses.
3. Financial Stability
• susTainable developmenT pracTices have The abiliTy To creaTe
more financially sustainable economies across the globe.
developing counTries ThaT can’T access fossil fuels can leverage
renewable forms of energy to power their economies.
• from The developmenT of renewable energy Technologies, These
countries can create sustainable jobs as opposed to finite jobs
based on fossil fuel technologies.
4. Agricultural Requirement
• a growing populaTion means agriculTure musT
catch up. Finding ways to feed more than 3 billion
people can be staggering. If the same unsustainable
cultivation, planting, irrigation, spraying, and
harvesting techniques are utilized in the future,
they might prove to be financially burdening
considering fossil fuel resources are projected to
run out.
• susTainable developmenT focuses on susTainable
agricultural methods such as effective seeding
techniques and crop rotation to promote high yields
while maintaining the integrity of the soil, which
produces food for a large population.
EXAMPLES OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
1. Crop Rotation
• crop roTaTion, in conTrasT, is defined as “The successive
planting of different crops on the same land to improve soil
ferTiliTy and help conTrol insecTs and diseases.” This way of
farming is not a new practice, but rather a more ancient way
of farming chemical-free, whilst maximizing the long-term
growth potential of land.
2. Green Space
• green spaces are locaTions where planTs and animals are
left to flourish. Parks also fall into the category of green
spaces. Green spaces provide people a remarkable
opportunity to take pleasure in outdoor recreation, more so
in big cities, where resting space is hard to come by.
3. Wind Energy
• wind energy is energy harnessed from The moTion of
wind using wind turbines or windmills. Wind energy is
renewable, which means iT’s never-ending and can be
used to substitute energy at the grid. This makes it a
good sustainable development practice.
4. Solar Energy
• This is energy harnessed from The sun using solar
panels. iT’s advanTageous since iT’s absoluTely free
and its supply is infinite. These factors make it
beneficial to consumers and good for Mother Nature
because iT doesn’T conTribuTe To The emission of
greenhouse gasses.
WHAT PREVENTS SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT FROM HAPPENING?
• The first is that for many aspects of development,
using sustainable methods and materials is
expensive. While the long-term cost of sustainability
does prove to be less expensive than traditional
development, the creation of a sustainable project
may be far more expensive in the first phase.
• The second major issue is that there is not a
generally accepted need for sustainable
development. This is an education issue that may
take many years to resolve.
Conclusion
• Sustainable development is largely about people, their well-
being, and equity in their relationships with each other, in a
context where nature-society imbalances can threaten
economic and social stability.
• Because climate change, its drivers, its impacts and its policy
responses will interact with economic production and
services, human settlements and human societies, climate
change is likely to be a significant factor in the sustainable
development of many areas (e.g., Downing, 2002).
• Simply stated, climate change has the potential to affect
many aspects of human development, positively or negatively,
depending on the geographic location, the economic sector,
and the level of economic and social development already
attained (e.g., regarding particular vulnerabilities of the
poor, see Dow and Wilbanks, 2003).