Environment Protection and Sustainable

Development

In recent times thinking on word development has been translated into what are known as
social or human development indicators, which include education, health, sanitation, access to
drinking water, nutritional levels, and civil rights.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) now brings out a Human Development
Report that ranks countries in terms of their development status with regard to these various
social and human indicators.
Sustainable development has been described as development which:
"...meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. "

Carrying Capacity

To fully understand what sustainable development means, we must first understand the notion
of canying capacity.
The carrying capacity of an organism or a system is its ability to meet demands and withstand
without doing permanent damage to itself or compromising its ability to meet future demands
and withstand future pressures.

For an ecosystem, this could mean its ability to tolerate extraction (its productive
capacity) and withstand pollution (its assimilative capacity) without getting degraded.

To understand this better, consider that even human beings have a carrying capacity.

We can donate only those amounts of blood safely that our body can replace in a
short time. Similarly, we can assimilate a certain amount of caffeine or other pollutants,
without they permanently damaging our health.
 However, if our body was drained of blood or if we were exposed to the type and quantity of
pollutants that were beyond our ability to assimilate, then we would not only seriously injure
ourselves, but in extreme cases also die. In any case, our ability to produce and function would
be impaired. If this draining and polluting our body continues over time, we are very
like to die.

One way of ensuring sustainable development is to ensure that the process of economic growth
does not take from nature more than it is able to regenerate, and does not pollute nature
beyond its ability to assimilate.

The carrying capacity of a resource is not finite. Through better management and technology,
the carrying capacities of various natural ecosystems can be enhanced. For example, through
the application of genetic engineering, mainly in the form of better seeds and faster growing
strains of crops, the productivity of cultivated plants and of the land on which they grow can be
increased.
 The application of fertilisers and irrigation can also enhance the productivity of land. Similarly,
the assimilative abilities of an ecosystem can also be enhanced. Recently, there have been
successful experiments with earthworms - called vermiculture - where the introduction of
earthworms in compost pits can significantly enhance the ability of the ecosystem to break
down the waste matter and assimilate the biodegradable substances, consequently enhancing
the quality of soil.

Human beings are perhaps the only living creatures on Earth that have the ability to
Environment and exceed the carrying capacities of ecosystems to a point where these
ecosystems get Sustainable Development degraded or destroyed.
In the rest of nature, there are in-built checks and balances to prevent the over-utilisation of
natural resources.
The consumption of resources by animals is determined by the availability of such resources.

o For example, if the number of deer in a particular area increase to a point where they start
consuming more grass than can be regenerated, then the availability of grass goes down and
this, in turn, adversely affects the population of deer.
 o Similarly, if the number of tigers in an area increases to a point where they eat up the other
prey animals faster than these animals can reproduce, then, very soon there is not enough
food for these tigers and their population begins to decline.
o Their population rapidly reaches a point wheie the balance between their population and the
population of the prey animals is restored without any permanent damage being done. This
cycle is endlessly repeated.

o Also, in nature, nothing is waste.

o The 'waste' of one creature is the food of another and is finally an input to one part or another
of the ecosystem.
o Therefore, a whole host of insects and microorganisms live in and off the excrement of various
animals.
o These insects and microorganisms break down (biodegrade) this excrement to a point where it
becomes nourishment for the soil.
o Similarly, dead plants and trees and even the carcasses of animals, become homes and food
for other creatures who, in the - process, help them to be assimilated by the ecosystem.

Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is the concept of needs and limitations imposed by technology and
society on the environments ability to meet the present and future needs.
It state that we should grow in such a manner that growth and resources can be sustained

Definition given by UN World Commission on environment and development (WECD, 1987), It was
chaired by Brundtland Commission.

1. The development that meets the needs of present generation without comprising the ability of
future generation to meet their own needs, It calls for the intergenerational equity.

2. Thus, the concept of sustainable development provides framework for the integration of
environmental policies and development strategies having implications at international, national
regional and local levels.
3. Development should not endanger the natural systems that support life on earth.

Many people in the industrial world today operate with the frontier mentality, which is a
human-centered view based on the three erroneous basic ideas:

1. The world has an unlimited supply of resources for human use;

2. Humans are apart from nature, and
3. Nature is something to overcome.

The concept is -
With this attitude towards nature, technological advanced increase our ability to use earths
resourced and thus, increase the damage.
Hence, the concept of sustainable development leads us to new resource consumption strategies,
which are:
o Conservation or reduction of excessive resource use,
o Recycling and reuse of materials and more use of renewable resources like solar energy rather
than non-renewable resources such as oil and coal
o Sustainable development also requires meeting the basic needs of all deprived people in this
world and extending to all, the opportunities to satisfy their aspirations for a better life.
o Otherwise, the world, in which poverty and inequity are endemic, will always be prone to
ecological and other crisis.

In Gandhijis word, Earth provides enough to satisfy every mans need but not any mans greed.

The view of frontier society and the concept of sustainable society are compared in below

Equity and the Common Interest

Ecological interactions do not respect the boundaries of individual ownership and political
jurisdictions.
For example, the irrigation practices, pesticides, and fertilizers used on farm affect the
productivity of the neighbouring ones, especially among small farms.
The interdependence of various components of the earth was recognized to some extent by
traditional social systems.
This enforced practices such as community control over agriculture or traditional rights relating
to water, forests and land.
But with the surge of technological progress the responsibilities of decision -making are being
taken away from traditional communities.
 Interdependence is not simply a local phenomenon. Rapid growth in production has extended it
to the international plane with both physical and economic manifestation.
There are growing global and regional environmental hazards such as over consumption of fossil
fuels leading to global warming or excessive use of chlorofluorocarbons leading to depletion of
ozone layer.
Inequalities sharpen when a system approaches ecological limits. For example, when urban air
quality deteriorates, the poor, living in vulnerable areas suffer more health damage than the
rich.
Who live in cleaner neighborhood and also have the means to find a remedy or when mineral
resources become depleted.
Late-comers to the industrialization process loss the benefits of cheap raw materials.
Globally, wealthy nations are better placed financially and technologically to cope with the
effects of resource depletion and environmental degradation.
We can say that our inability to promote common interest in sustainable development is often a
product of the neglect of economic and social justice within and amongst the nations.
However, the search for common interests would be less difficult if all developmental and
environmental problems are tackled in totality for the betterment of whole mankind.
Also our growing knowledge of the global interconnection would create a more thoughtful
approach to development.

Features of sustainable development

1. Increase in real GDP

2. Improvement in well being

3. Conservation of environment

Increase in real GDP

1. Economic growth means an increase in Real GDP. Economic growth means there is an increase in
national output and national income.
2. Economic growth is caused by two main factors:
a) an increase in aggregate demand
b) an increase in aggregate supply (productive capacity)
Demand side causes
In the short term, economic growth is caused by an increase in aggregate demand (AD).
If there is spare capacity in the economy then an increase in AD will cause a higher level of real GDP.
AD= C + I + G + X- M
C= Consumer spending
I = Investment
G = Government spending
X = Exports
M = Import

Potential growth can increase for the following reasons:

1. Increased capital. e.g. investment in new factories or investment in infrastructure, such as roads and
telephones.
2. Increase in working population, e.g. through immigration, higher birth rate.
3. Increase in Labour productivity, through better education and training or improved technology
4. Discovering new raw materials.
5. Technological improvements to improve the productivity of capital and labour e.g. Microcomputers
and the internet have both contributed to increased economic growth.

Improvement in well being

1. From the perspective of mainstream economics, the answer seems clear-cut: The consumption of
material goods and services satisfies peoples preferences and contributes to their happiness.
2. And higher levels of consumption shouldall else equalcontribute positively to social welfare.
3. The all else equal caveat is quite important here. While non-economists sometimes assume that
mainstream economics is concerned narrowly with the monetary value of market goods and services.
4. In fact, economics textbooks very much stress the contributions that public goods and
environmental quality make to human well-being.

Conservation of environment
1. The notion that stabilizing climate might require reductions in the levels of material production and
consumption is one facet of the rapidly evolving degrowth movement.
2. This perspective notes (rightly) that greenhouse gas emissions tend to increase with the level of
economic activity because higher income and consumption levels translate into increased demand for
carbon-intensive goods.
3. An analogous argument, however, is offered by analysts who favor free-market energy policies over
the interventionist policies needed to put the economy on course towards the achievement of a
sustainable energy system.
4. The argument is that the production of goods and services requires energy and that cutting energy
useor shifting toward higher-cost forms of energynecessarily threatens to reduce the level and
growth of economic output.
5. As one example of this line of reasoning, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (USEIA)
predicted that implementing the Kyoto Protocol would reduce U.S. economic output by up to 4.3
percent in the year 2010.

6. A more representative assessment is provided by the Stern Review on climate change, which found
that stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations
7. At 500550 parts per milliona level sufficient to limit the future increase in mean global
temperature to roughly 2 degrees Celsiuswould impose costs equivalent to a permanent 1 percent
reduction in the level of present and future economic output.
8. One key point is that achieving Sterns stabilization target would require a gradual but also nearly
complete transition away from todays high-carbon energy economy to a mainly post-carbon energy
system over the course of the next four decades.
9. On the other hand, Sterns analysis implies that climate change policies would have almost no impact
on the rate of economic growth.
10. Because climate change policies would be phased in gradually over time, an economy that might
have grown at a rate of 3.00 percent per year would instead grow at the lower rate of 2.95 percent per
year.
11. If one assumed that climate policies had costs in the middle of the range described by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its systematic literature review.

Indicators of Sustainable development

1. Green GDP it is the GDP adjusted for the cost of environmental degradation, it is obtained by
deducting the value of environment degradation from the GDP.
2. Genuine Saving it is obtained by (Gross saving Depreciation in manmade capital depreciation in
natural capital)

Threats to sustainable development

1. Depletion of resources (Renewable and Non renewable)
2. Environment Degradation
NEW SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

NEW AGENDA:

End Poverty by 2030

Universally promote shared economic prosperity, social development and environmental

protection (SEE)
 193 countries of UN

Sustainable development Summit @ New York

17 new SDG

Built on success of MDG

700 million people came out of poverty

Millenium Development Goals:

MDG @ 2000 8 goals

Issues

1. Poverty

2. Hunger

3. Disease

4. Gender Inequality

5. Water and Sanitation Target - 2015

MDG FRAMEWORK REPORT

Poverty --- 50% 14%

Undernourished people 23.3% to 13.9%

Primary school net enrolment rate 83% to 91%

Literacy rate 83% to 91%

Women employment 35% to 41%

Parliamentary representation - Doubled

Under 5 mortality rate - declined more than 50%

Maternal Mortality Rate declined by 45%

Progress UNEVEN across countries

UNEVEN Gaps

Gender Equality

Gap between Poorest and Richest

Poverty and Hunger

Climate change & Environmental Degradation

Conflicts

Rio +20 Conference

Member states agreed to launch SDG

MDG lifted millions out of poverty

New Goals Global & Universally applicable

CORE ELEMENTS

Eradication of Poverty

Integration of Economic, Social and Environmental dimensions of sustainable development

5 Ps People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership

17 SDG & 169 Targets

Tackle key systematic barriers

1. Inequality

2. Unsustainable consumption and production patterns

3. Inadequate infrastructure

4. Lack of decent jobs

ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION

Oceans

Marine resources

Ecosystems
 Biodiversity

Implementation : Finance, technology and capacity development

ADDIS CONFERENCE

Forum on science, technology and innovation & online platform for collaboration

Provided momentum for the negotiations on a new binding climate change treaty @ Climate
Change conference in Paris

How are SDGs different from MDGs?

MDG 15 targets, SDG 169 targets

SDG 1st time introduced country wise monitoring mechanism

Rich countries provide money to developing countries

for achieving goals which was not there in MDGs

How can India adopt Sustainable Development Model?

Inclusive growth policies

Improve income levels of poor

Social security schemes performance

Improve quality of education

Protect Ecology

Decentralised Power

17 Sustainable development goals (SDG)

Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is not something that can be achieved overnight.

The path to sustainability is through ensuring that every project, every activity, every scheme
and every policy is progressively made environmentally friendly till it itself becomes sustainable
and promotes overall sustainability.

Here are some of the issues

Forestry:

o Sustainable development within and through the forestry sector means that we should harvest
from forests only that much of timber and non-timber produce that it can regenerate.
o So, for example, if a forest grows at the rate of 2 % a year, our harvest should never be greater
than the increment. This is similar to the principle of judicious financial management where
people are expected not to eat inta the capital of their savings but live off its interest.
o Similarly, if we concentrate our harvesting on only one part of the forest, then even though
overall we might not have extracted more than what is regenerated, the area from which we
have over harvested might become barren.
Biodiversity:

o Biodiversity or biological diversity is defined as the variability of ecosystems, species and genes.
o It is now recognised that the maintenance of biodiversity is critical for human well-being and
survival.

There are many types of ecosystems on earth. For example, there are the seas and oceans, rivers and
lakes, forests, deserts, grasslands, islands, and mountains. Within these categories, there are sub-
categories. In India, for example, there are sixteen major types of forests and hundreds of subtypes.
Similarly, there are tropical oceans and temperate oceans; there are cold and hot deserts and various
types of mountain ranges and grasslands. Biodiversity at the ecosystem level means the variability of
ecosystems

Within each ecosystem, there are various species. Human beings are one such species, but there are
others like tigers, lions, elephants, peepal trees, deodar trees, gulmohar and mem trees, peacocks,
crows, bees, flies, etc. Biodiversity at the species level means the variability of species.

Within each species, each individual is different. Among human beings, for example, though we are all
of one species, each one of us is physically and mentally different from the other: genetically variable.
There are similar variations among individual members of all species. Biodiversity at the genetic level
means the variability of individuals of the same species.

There are many reasons why it is important to conserve biodiversity. Some of the major ones are
described below.

Medicine:

large proportion of the medicines that are used in the world, especially Environment and Sustainable
Development the non-allopathic ones, are derived from plants and animals. Yet, we have only
investigated about one percent of the known species for their medicinal and other values. And of the
species likely to exist on earth, perhaps only twenty percent have so far been discovered and identified.
If specie that has either not yet even been identified, or whose medicinal and other uses have not yet
been investigated, becomes extinct, then the cure to some of the diseases that are currently plaguing
the world, like AIDS and cancer, might be lost for ever

Agriculture:

All the plants we cultivate or the animals we domesticate, are derived from wild species. In order to
keep open the option of developing new strains for cultivation and domestication, we have to ensure
that wild species are conserved. Also, if cultivated or domestic strains have to be immunised against
pests or diseases, then most often wild species have to be used to create such immune strains.
Biotechnology:

'raw materials' of biotechnology are wild plants and animals. It is from the various plants and animals
that genes can be found which, through genetic engineering, give new hope of solving many of the old
problems. For example, the green revolution in India was a result of genetic engineering and, whatever
might be the problems with it, has certainly raised the productivity of food grains in India. However, if
species in the wild became extinct, then this 'raw material' of genetic engineering would no longer be
available.

Web of life:

All life is interconnected like the web of a spider. Each species is directly or indirectly dependent on all
others. Therefore, if one species becomes extinct, then this affects all the species. The effect might not
be felt immediately, but eventually the chain reaction starts.

Agriculture:

o The soil and water resources that are a basis for agriculture, also need to be sustainably used.
o Soils are susceptible to wind and water erosion and to degradation.
o When the vegetative cover on soils is destroyed, the binding that such a cover provides to the
soil is removed.
o These exposed soils become prone to erosion.
o Further, with the removal of vegetative cover, the soils get exposed to the direct rays of the
sun and dry up quickly. This also lowers their productivity and makes them susceptible to
erosion.
o The leaf and vegetative litter that is generated by the green cover enriches the soil and provides
it with humus. When the vegetative cover disappears, the soils also degrade.