Concept of sustainable development
There were few development works in the past, and those were regarded as having advantages only for human beings. People did not think about its severe effects on the environment. When population started to increase rapidly, development activities also increased in geometric ratio all over the earth. It started rapid destruction of forests, over-consumption of non renewable natural resources like petroleum and minerals, release of green house gases in abundance and even remarkable depletion of the ozone layer. When all those effects became known to people, they started thinking about conservation of nature, natural resources and the environment for the future generations.
The General Assembly of the United Nations Organizations (UNO) formed a commission under the presidentship of the then Norwegian prime minister Grow Harlem Brundtland in 1983 AD. This commission is known as the Brundtland's Commission. The commission published a report "Common Future" in 1987 with a clear concept and focus on sustainable development.
The commission has defined sustainable development as " a process in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment and the orientation of technological development and institutional change meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Sustainable means that which lasts, continues, or will continue for a long period of time. A development work with a conscious plan of natural friendly utilization of natural resources and environmental conservation is sustainable development. Such development works help in conserving the natural resources and ecological processes. The commission has given some principles of sustainable development, which are listed below:
Principles of sustainable development
According to Brundtland's Commission, the major principles of sustainable development are as follows:
i. Sustainable development of society
A society is made up of many families and people. Each society needs health, education, drinking water, sanitation, roads, public places, etc. Utilization of natural components to manage and maintain such aspects in the society must be so wise that the natural resources become available for future generations, too. With such practice, society can obtain resources for a long time.
ii. Conservation of ecosystem
Sustainable development is carried out with a conservation program of nature. Natural conservation process mainly includes conservation of the ecosystem. It implies the conservation of natural resources including biotic factors like animals, birds, plants, etc. and abiotic factors like soil, water, air etc. Main focus of sustainable development is to utilize the components of nature without its overexploitation and with activities to conserve the ecosystem.
iii. Conservation of biodiversity
The vividness of living creatures should be conserved for sustainable development. All living things are integral parts. The decline of any species leaves remarkable effects on the whole ecosystem. Such decline is harmful for the environment. Sustainable development pays keen attention to the conservation of biodiversity as its main principles:
iv. Control of population growth
Development over a long period is not possible without a controlled population. Overpopulation increases the total number of consumers and achievements of development works are over utilized. It affects the positive features of development adversely. So the concept of sustainable development integrates with population control to make it long lasting. Population growth control is one of the major principles of sustainable development.
v. Human resource development
Sustainable development is possible with the involvement of capable human resource. Skilled and educated manpower is needed for it. They should be trained for proper application and implementation of the principles of sustainable development.
vi. Increase in public participation
Public participation is also an important principle of sustainable development. Unless there is dedicated participation of local people in any sort of development work, it cannot achieve its objectives to the desired extent. For the development of a certain place, people living there should be motivated to participate in development activities.
vii. Conservation of cultural heritages
Cultural traits and norms occupy a distinctly remarkable space in the lifestyle and general behavior of the people. Development activities should coincide with these cultural traits. Sustainable development provides focus for adjustment of development works with the cultural environment of the society and people. Collection of raw materials and management of resources should be done in such a way that the cultural heritage does not experience any sort of harms or adverse effects.
viii. Limit of carrying capacity
Carrying capacity is the total capacity of accommodating the natural resources on earth. Limited natural resources are available in a certain area of land, and the processes of resources are also limited. Development activities should be limited within the availability of the resources and carrying capacity of the related area.
Importance of sustainable development
Importance of sustainable development can be understood from the principles of sustainable development mentioned above. Sustainable development is important for all living and non-living components of the environment for it adopts the principles which contribute to environmental conservation. Environment and nature are the common property of all the living creatures. The importance of sustainable development is described below:
i. Proper use of resources
Sustainable development adopts the principle of conservation of the ecosystem and biodiversity. In this process, over exploitation of resources is restricted, and utilization of resources is done in such a way that they remain in nature for their regeneration and for the fulfillment of the needs of future generations, too.
ii. Accountability
The components of the environment and natural resources are evaluated regularly in sustainable development. It is easy to find out the status of natural resources which are being utilized for development. Sustainable development does not allow overuse of natural resources. People involved in development works should be accountable for the degradation of resources, if any. Consumers of resources must be accountable and responsible for the decline of resources, too. In this way, it makes people aware and controlled to carry out nature-friendly environment.
iii. Development of basic aspects
The concept of sustainable development gives the priority to the fulfillment of the basic needs. Therefore, developmental sectors like agriculture, health, education, security, etc. get priority in sustainable development.
iv. Public participation
Participation of local people is an important aspect of sustainable development. Increase in public participation is one of its principles. On one hand, it increases the source of income and different skills of the local people. On the other hand, it increases the feeling of closeness of development works among the people.
v. Limit of development
Sustainable development has a principle of considering the carrying capacity of the earth. Development works are done on the basis of availability of resources. Excess development works are stopped to save the environment and natural resources.
vi. Long-term vision
Sustainable development has a long-term vision of considering the future generation. Brundtland's Commission mentioned clearly in its report 'Common Future' that sustainable development does not compromise with the ability of the future generation to meet their needs. Natural resources are preserved for future generations, too.
vii. Conservation of the ecosystem
Sustainable development gives priority to the balance between the existence of living and non-living things, their interdependence and interinfluences. It advocates against destruction of natural resources and other environmental components. In this way, sustainable development helps in the conservation of the ecosystem.
viii. Judicious use of natural resources
Sustainable development does not ban the use of natural resources rather it encourages sensible and wise use of natural resources and environment to meet the present needs. At the same time, it (development) must preserve the natural resources for future generations to achieve the long-term gains. The practice of sustainable development preserves biological diversity-fundamental base for maintaining ecological processes and life support systems for world's species (flora and fauna).
ix. Integration of Environment and Economy:
Sustainable development integrates economy with environment to ensure environmentally conscious use of resources. Those manufacturers or consumers responsible for polluting environment are charged with fines or punishment, or both.
xi. Population control
Sustainable development accepts the limitations posed by natural resources and environment. An abnormal rise of population will exhaust the Earth's resources. The more the population, the more the pressure on the Earth. Sustainable development checks the population growth in order to save the natural resources and save the environment.
xii. Economic development
Sustainable development is no way goes against the concept of economic development. It simply cautions us to be judicious about the use of natural resources and environment to maintain not only the needs of the present generation but also to the future generations. The key point here is that economic development continues with long-term vision of sustainability.
Dimensions of Sustainable Development
The ultimate goal of sustainable development is to improve the quality of life for all members of a community and, indeed, for all citizens of a nation and the world. Sustainability is often thought of as long term goal to achieve a more sustainable world, while sustainable development refers to the many process and the pathways to achieve it through sustainable agriculture and forestry, sustainable production and consumption, god government and stable politics for people's welfare, research and technology transfer, education and training, etc.
Even before the 1987 Brundtland Report. Our Common Future, there was a growing recognition that sustainable solutions can be achieved through integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions. There are four different dimensions to sustainable development- society, culture, environment, and economy. These four dimensions are intertwined, not separate. All the four dimensions namely environmental, societal, cultural and economic integrate themselves under the umbrella of political system which governs for people's welfare. For example, a human society must have political system which ensures freedom, equality and justice balanced on economic, social and environmental pillars in the pursuit of an improved quality of life and sustainability.
Objective of sustainable development
The expression 'sustainable development' was first used by the economists who were alarmed by the decay and destruction of nature use for selfish pursuit of economic growth. The benefits of economic growth were much less than the costs of damage to nature and environment.
The following are the objectives of sustainable development:
- To assist in poverty eradication
- To encourage human progress and development
- To effectively protect the environment
- To utilize available means and resources carefully
- To achieve high, stable and sustainable growth
- To obtain social justice for suppressed, disable and women groups
Application of the sustainable development
Sustainable development is a wise concept developed by Brundtland's Commission. If this concept is kept confined only within theory and the texts, we cannot save the environment from being degraded. Sustainable development can be applied and adopted in the following ways:
- We should use natural resources as minimum as possible.
- Urbanization should be done in a planned way.
- Haphazard developmental works should be discouraged. There is a need of proper study of probable environmental degradation caused by developmental works in the long term.
- Organic farming should be promoted wisely.
- Overgrowth of population should be controlled.
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