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You are in: Teaching & Learning » Citizenship » Teaching Resources » Sustainable Development Agenda 21 |
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Sustainable Development Agenda 21
What is Sustainable Development?"Sustainable development" refers to any form of development which avoids exploiting the environment. Sustainable development instead respects the environment by ensuring that, so far as possible, when resources are used they are put back into the environment so that people in the future will be able to use them. Classic examples of sustainable development include ensuring that for every tree cut down another one is planted, and that where rare minerals and materials are being used up as many of them as possible are recycled. Some forms of 'environmental exploitation' are caused by greed - by people trying to make more and more money - but sometimes it is due to ignorance. Thus farmers facing poverty might chop down all the trees in a certain area so that they can grow more crops to support their family better. Yet, the results of their actions in chopping down lots of trees might actually make the situation worse, as it may lead to floods which wash the fertile soil off their land. So, one of the important aspects of sustainable development is educating people to understand why sustainable development is important and what the consequences of ignoring it might be. Sustainable development is an ideal, but in some contexts people feel that it has to take second place to more immediate problems. In some developing world countries, for example, people would like to respect the environment but they need basic food to eat and electricity for hospitals and so they end up taking approaches which do in fact damage the environment. It's important when discussing sustainable development to remember that although exploiting the environment could have a disastrous impact on the lives of people in the future, impractical and ill thought through attempts to impose sustainable development could have an equally disastrous impact on the lives of people in the present. For further information:
What is Agenda 21?Agenda 21 is a document signed during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) which took place in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. This document was signed by 179 governments and commits them to working more closely to prevent the exploitation of the environment; working instead to ensure that development around the world is as sustainable as it can be. Agenda 21 contains 40 chapters outlining the areas of development which governments need to focus their attentions on if we are to achieve a truly global commitment to sustainable development. By looking at the chapter headings of the forty chapters below, we get a good idea of what the leaders who gathered in 1992 felt were the important areas which needed to be addressed if we are to achieve a truly sustainable development. The Content of Agenda 21:
SECTION ONE: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS
SECTION TWO: CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES
SECTION THREE: STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS
SECTION FOUR: MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Why is sustainable Development Important ?When the environment is exploited there are serious consequences for everyone. Not only is the world 'spoiled' for future generations but it can have serious economic and political implications now. It means that resources are no longer available so consumers suffer. It also means that businesses that used the resources are no longer able to obtain them, so the business ends up closing and that, in turn, leads to unemployment and poverty. Exploiting the environment can also mean that animals and plant species become extinct. As scientists keep finding and developing new medicines from plants and animals, allowing species to become extinct could have a very serious consequence for our future health and well being. Everyone agrees that a focus on 'sustainability' is essential for the future well being of the world. But the "development" side is very important as well. People who are starving are hardly likely to worry that the animal they have just found to eat is about to become extinct. People who are freezing are not going to stop chopping down trees for fuel. People who spend most of their time and energy struggling to stay alive are going to place concerns about the environment very low down on their list of priorities. Ultimately, people who have no stake in the global economy will feel no obligation to concern themselves with 'sustainability.' If sustainable development is ever going to become a priority for the poorest communities in the world then it is important for the wealthy nations to respond to the needs of those peoples, helping them to achieve higher standards of living in their own countries and contexts. If there were more development occurring in some of the countries of the world there would probably be less asylum seekers and economic migrants. Fanaticism and terrorism also thrive and grow amongst people who are unhappy and have no stake in the future so it really is in the interests of wealthy developed countries to think carefully about how they can support genuine (sustainable) development around the world. Problems with Implementing Sustainable DevelopmentTo get agreement on what the world should do to promote sustainable development, a lot of conflicting interests need to be taken into account. For example, The EU may want to increase the amount of power that is generated from renewable sources (turbines, solar panels, hydroelectric etc) but countries that export oil are not necessarily that happy about this. They are worried about the money they will lose if people stop wanting to buy their oil. Another issue is subsidies, the cash that is given by governments to help some industries. Some farmers and manufacturers in the UK, for example, receive subsidies from the EU which ultimately leads to higher prices for consumers and also makes it difficult for developing world countries to sell their products to us. Developing world countries need to increase their markets in order to build up their economies but sometimes our own systems are actually making it difficult for them to do that. An equally important issue is the use of new technologies, in particular GM crops. GM crops can lead to more food being harvested from smaller pieces of land than traditional crops so the use of GM crops offers a possible way to help reduce the numbers of starving people in the world. Green groups in the West are protesting that the use of GM crops will damage the environment and should not be allowed. Some scientists are very critical of the Green groups. If there are no proven harmful effects of GM crops then the scientists believe that starving people should be allowed to eat them and that the protests of green groups may actually be contributing to the serious problems facing some countries. Another area where environmental (Green) groups come into conflict with those seeking greater development in developing world countries is over the issue of 'starting' factories and economies off. Green groups believe that countries shouldn't start with our 'dirty' western means of creating energy (coal, oil, gas) and that we should instead insist that they use more renewable or sustainable forms of energy (solar, wind, wave power). But scientists say this is totally impracticable because renewable sources of energy are very expensive to harvest and that even in the developed nations they still only account for 3% of energy supplies. Building large oil and gas power stations in developing world countries is not ideal, but is it really fair for people in the developed nations to try to impose standards upon the developing world which prevent the countries developing and which contribute to the problems of famine and sickness. Some critics in the developing world have accused wealthier countries of basically being 'imperialistic' in trying to prevent them from using exactly the same approaches that enabled developed countries to become rich and powerful. Another factor which often contributes to the problems of initiating and implementing sustainable development is the problem of corruption and selfish leadership. In some developing world countries there are leaders who show very little interest in their people and even use food and land as a weapon, giving it to their supporters whilst denying it to their political opponents. In situations like that it is very difficult to meaningfully ask about implementing measures which would lead to sustainable development. Whilst there are many problems making it difficult to make progress with sustainable development, there are also some factors which people think of as problems but which may in fact not be a problem at all. Population control is a typical example of this. In the wealthy countries, measures given out to reduce the size of populations are always a part of aid and development packages for developing countries, but in Europe, politicians are beginning to realise that when a country's birth rates fall below replacement level this can actually lead to very serious consequences for the country. Developing world countries also point out that having a large young work force was an important contributory element which enabled developed countries to achieve their present levels of wealth and prosperity. Developed countries are quick to cite population size as a problem which is leading to the exploitation of the environment and so they insist that developing countries must institute programmes to reduce their population size. But some developing world countries disagree about the nature of the problem. As far as they are concerned the problem isn't that they have too many people, the problem is that developed countries are not really interested enough in helping them to develop food, health, education and medical systems that would enable them to care for their growing populations. Some critics of countries would go further and argue that their focus on reducing population size is just a form of cultural imperialism. Especially as England has 600 people per square mile while Africa averages 22 people per square mile. For a statement of that unconventional approach see: What Can I do about Sustainable Development ?The 179 governments that signed Agenda 21 have committed themselves to working more seriously to end environmental exploitation and to achieve more sustainable development. The consequences of ignoring the importance of sustainable development will affect everyone, so trying to ensure a greater commitment to sustainable development is something that we should all be involved in. We can't just leave it to governments and ignore our own actions. At the local level we can support the principles of sustainable development by:
For further information:
Teaching Sustainable Development
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