Sustaianable Development And The Enviornment
It is defined as “The development which meets the needs of present generation without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs.” It provides the idea that a process by which people satisfies their needs in a way that future generation will not be affected. It is a process by which people of present improve their quality of life and also let the coming generation to fulfill their needs accordingly. The development would be for economy, politics, society and environment etc. It is likely to achieve greater and higher satisfaction of needs and improving quality of life.
There are some factors that affect sustainable development such as population size, as its needs increases then ultimately population may degrade environment. For instance when per capita consumption increases its requirements will also increase; another example is technological advancement, which also has adverse impacts. Sustainable development is a development in which economic fiscal, trade, energy, agriculture and industrial policies are design to bring about development which is economically, socially and ecologically sustainable. Sustainable development means consumption and production will must be equal every where. It means that the current consumption cannot be financed by incurring economic departments (repay) and social departments.
Sustainable developments have the requirements such as elimination of poverty, reduction in population growth, equitable distribution of income, decentralized and more participating govrnment, more trained and educated people, more equitable and liberal systems within and between countries, locally adopted solutions for environmental problems, if all these requirements will be achieved then a country will be a sustainable developed country.
There are the reasons for sustainable development,
Non-substitubility: There are many environmental assets for which there is no substitute i.e. there is no feasible way of retreating the ozone layer, what is the substitute for the climatic regulatory functions of oceans, plan tons, the watershed protection functions of tropical forests and the pollution cleaning and nutrient trap function of wet lands and for which there is no ready substitute. Therefore according to sustainable development thinking in the face of no substitutes, we have the basic reason for protecting the natural assets for future generation because they also have the right to live on this earth.
Uncertainty: We know the technological advancements could of course advance the degree of substitution between the two types of capital.
Perhaps, one day we will not need the ocean for food or climatic regulations or the coastal land of nutrients, but it raises the issue of uncertainty. If we do not know the out come then we are in dark. Therefore, there is need for the rational utilization of resources and to protect the environment.
Irreversibility: This can be understood by taking simple examples i.e. once a specie is lost it cannot be recreated by man-made capital. Once a historical settlement, architectural is lost it cannot be created by man-made capital again. So these also need protection.
Equity: The poor are often more affected by the bad environment, than the rich people. There is also another conflicting evidence that how people value the environment as their income changes. For example willingness to take action is not the same as willingness to pay for environmental protection. Researchers have found that richer people are more deliberate and willing to pay than the poor for improving environmental quality. It means that there is a need for intergenerational equity.
Intergenerational equity can only be achieved when the poor are compensated by the richer and a society have sustainable livelihood. This is more apparent in developing countries where rural live hoods are mostly dependent on the natural resources for their living. Thus where the sustainability of livelihood of the poor is linked with natural resource use, the conflict with equity is minimized.
Therefore conservation or improvement of natural resources allows the poor to gain better live hood against the needs of future generations. Thus the sustainable utilization acts as a non-declining natural wealth.
By Shahzadi.(38/10)
