Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is defined as the development that meets the present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The statement is reliable and provides a goal to which many people desire, though it provides no guidance or no assurance on how to assess progress towards sustainable development. The term sustainability is often referred to as “sustainable development”. Development may be regarded as the defined growth and hence sustainable development means refining the problem caused by, but not challenging, continuous economic growth. 

The term “sustainable development'' gained wide popularity in the international scientific community after the renowned report “ Our Common Future” was published by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Read the article below to know more about sustainable development.

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What is the Scope of Sustainable Development? 

Sustainable development is observed as the mutually beneficial interaction between the legal interest of a business and the economy, government and politics, and civil society, and culture. However, these social interactions do not exist alone. On the physical and material side, the society is bound by the carrying capacity of several ecosystems, landscape ecology, and eventually the biosphere of the Earth or Nature. On the spiritual and psychological side, the three fold functional differentiation of society is inspected by the caring capacity of an individual. Therefore, we can say that sustainable development is a multidimensional concept, involving not less than four dimensions.

What are the Basic Characteristics of Sustainable Development?  

The basic characteristics of sustainable development can be observed in the following points:

• There should be an uninterrupted rise in real per capita income and economic welfare on a long-term basis.

• Sustainable development simply means that resources should be naturally used in such a way that they are not over-exploited.

• Sustainable development aims at making use of natural resources and the environment for improving the standard of people in such a way that the ability of future generations to meet their own needs is not minimized.

• Sustainable development aims at promoting environment-friendly and biodegradable products, while also making sustainable planning for replacement or replenishment of resource usage.

• Sustainable development emphasis on eco-friendly building and developmental practices like green architecture.

What are the Three Core Elements of Sustainable Development?

The three core elements of sustainable development are briefly discussed below:

Environmental Conservation: 

The primary focus of sustainable development is to protect the environment so that the resources provided by it do not get destroyed.

Social Development: 

It aims to attain the well-being of an individual and society at large. It entails the availability of necessary resources, proper healthcare, and good quality of life for people.

Economic Progress:  

It encourages people to invest in sustainable efforts by persuading them through its long-term benefits and supporting both the environmental and social elements of the cause.

What are the Three Primary Goals of Sustainable Development?

The three primary goals of sustainable development are:

• To minimize the expenditure of natural resources while creating new developments.

• To create an environment that can be maintained and sustained without destroying the environment.

• To provide a method for rebuilding existing developments to make them eco-friendly facilities and projects.

International organizations such as NGOs, United Nations, aid organizations, and even governments are making continuous sponsoring efforts to ensure that the goal of sustainable development is achieved for every individual across the globe. Some other goals of sustainable development set by these bodies are:

• Elimination of poverty across the world

• Ensure good health and well being

• Provision for clear water and sanitation

• Provision of quality education for all

• Achieving Gender Equality

• Allowing access to economical and clean energy

• Building up strong infrastructure, Supporting Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and encouraging innovation

Principles/Premises of Sustainable Development

The following principles/premises underlying the concept of sustainable development: 

• Sustainable development is the alternative method for development, which by definition is eco-friendly and resource-efficient.

• There is a  symbiotic relationship between consumer and producer’s natural systems.

• The present generation should meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs i.e to ensure that productive assets available to future generations are not unfairly minimized.

• Those who enjoy the fruits of economic development must not make the resources of future generations worse by excessively degrading the Earth’s exhaustible resources and polluting its ecology and environment.

• The development should not focus only on growth, insted it should aim for broader goals of social transformation.

• Internally and externally sustainable development are two major aspects of sustainable development. With both, no real sustainable development would emerge.

• In the long term, sustainable development has to maintain relations with ecology, resources, and people along with their service agencies, institutions, and other aspects of their social organizations.

• The economic progress which destroys natural capital is not often successful.

• Sustainable development is largely responsible for the poor, and hence it should ensure that the poor have adequate access to sustainable and secure living.

• The past environmental mistakes should not be repeated as past patterns of environmental degradations are unavoidable.

• The environment and development are not mutually incompatible. Both a healthy environment and a healthy economy is essential for economic development.

Sustainable Development Examples

Listed below are some sustainable development examples, few of which do not just have minimal effect on the environment, but are also economical over an extended period of usage.

• Hydro energy as used in turbines.

• Wind energy is often employed in wind mills.

• Solar energy is finding wider implementation with innovations in solar cells and allied technologies.

• Efficient and recycled use of water.

• Green architecture and other sustainable constructions.

• Crop rotation and similar agricultural methods.

• Maintenance and growth of sustainable green spaces.

Importance of Sustainable Development: Battling the Environmental Crisis

Importance of sustainable development lies in its attempt to battle the environmental crisis which can be traced to unchallenged economic growth. Environmental crisis refers to a situation where nature is unable to sustain life forms or perform basic functions which are essential for the sustenance of life.

As per sustainable development definition, it attempts to contain resource extraction so that it does not exceed resource generation rates. Furthermore, it also tries to restrict waste generation to ensure that it remains below natural absorption capacities of the environment.

What are the Reasons Leading to the Environmental Crisis?

Understandably, noting the reasons leading to environmental crisis is vital in formulating a sustainable development project. Some of these reasons are discussed below in detail.

1. Continuous Growth of Economic Activities: 

It has a two-pronged effect on this planet’s environment. While on one hand, there is greater consumption of natural resources, on the other this is also accompanied with greater volume of waste. Consequently, taming this issue can reduce depletion along with increased processing of waste materials.

2. Increasing Rate of Population Growth: 

Rise in population leads to higher use of natural resources for their sustenance. It includes natural resources like oxygen, water, etc. along with artificial products which are also dependent on environmental resources. Another common issue with an ever-increasing population is that of misuse of these natural resources.

3. Fast-paced Urbanization: 

Economic and industrial development leads to fast-paced urbanization, which often compels large populaces to relocate to urban spaces. This often leads to excess burden on existing infrastructures. Furthermore, such a populace is often forced to relocate to slum areas that are congested and unhealthy. 

4. Industrialisation: 

Industrialisation has had a rippling effect on this planet’s environment in one of the most drastic fashions. It is responsible for numerous environmental issues, among which foremost is the depletion of resources along with deforestation. Additionally, industrial waste often contains toxic materials. These, in turn, have also been greatly responsible for pollution with effects like water contamination, air pollution and even noise pollution.

5. Reduction in Greenery: 

Deforestation to support economic development has been rampant on this planet for decades now. It has led to unparalleled reduction of greenery on the face of this planet which has led to environmental changes and degradations. Among its major effects, the most prominent has been global warming since purification of greenhouse gasses has been hindered with deforestation.

6. Rising Use of Chemical and Artificial Products: 

Use of chemicals like pesticides, chemically developed fertilizers, etc., has led to a poisonous effect on the crops. While a number of crops have been found to contain traces of these chemicals, these have also directly led to the development of health issues for farmers and other users. This too has adverse effects on this planet’s environment, including soil contamination and other issues.

Subsequently, the nature and scope of sustainable development primarily focuses to curb these issues which are a major drain on the environmental conditions. As students of commerce, it is vital to keep these reasons in mind while planning for economic development.

Conclusion

In short, Sustainable development (SD) refers to the human development model in which the resources that are presently used preserve the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present but also for future generations.