443 words essay on Sustainable Development

443 words essay on Sustainable Development

Recent years, an important question has come on the surface. Whether the level of development in many developing countries, is fairly low? Whether they are facing the problem of increasing population? On the other hand, in developed countries, main worry is about sustainability of development in terms of wasteful consumption? So, the important question that arises is what is sustainable development?

The term ‘sustainable development’ was first used by the ‘World Conservation Strategy’ in 1980.

According to Brundtland Report, sustainable development means a meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising with the needs of the future generations.

Thus, sustainable development refers to development which should keep going. It is the creation of sustainable improvements in the quality of life of all people through increase in real income per capita, improvement in education, health and general quality of life and improvements in quality of natural environmental resources. In other words, it is a situation in which economic development does not decrease over time.

It can be modified as a path of development in which options of future generations are not compromised by the path taken by the present generation.

In this context, two facts are more crucial to be discussed as below:

(a) Present production technology makes use of non-renewable (exhaustible) natural resources which includes coal, gas and petroleum or renewable natural resources like forests, animals and water, the regeneration of which becomes difficult.

(b) Present production technology pollutes atmosphere and water bodies with garbage, litter, smoke and poisonous gases. Nature has some assimilative capacity.

If pollution level is too high, the nature may not be able to assimilate it. On the other hand, if non-renewable natural resources deplete fast, future generations may not have enough stock for its use.

Thus, if we continue growing our economies the way, we do, it may become impossible to continue with the level of development reached. Therefore, sustainable development requires the preservation of stock of resources and exhaustible natural resources.

Objectives:

The main objectives of sustainable development are stated below:

(i) It aims at the creation of sustainable improvements in the quality of life for all people.

(ii) Increasing economic growth through meeting basic needs i.e. rising the standard of living.

(iii) Providing chance to participate in public life and helping to clean environment.

(iv) Promoting intergenerational equity.

(v) Aiming at maximizing the net benefits of economic development, and

(vi) Aiming at accelerating economic development in order to conserve and enhance the stock of environmental, human and physical capital without making future generations worse off.