Define sustainable development and enumerate its major challenges.

In 1987 the Brundtland Report described sustainability as: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Deliberately, the Brundtland definition was not very strict. Nevertheless, it introduced important key concepts that have continued to influence the use of the concept. The Brundtland definition thus addresses inter-generational and development issues and builds on a recognition of the concept of limitations on the environment’s ability to met present and future needs. Following the Brundtland Report, the term sustainable development started entering the vocabulary of policy- planners and policy-makers. Reflecting this, by the mid 1990s, the definitions of sustainable development began to involve the simultaneous pursuit of economic, social and environmental objectives.

However, this move was not accompanied by criteria and guidelines on how to handle the three dimensions. Rather, a win-win-win approach was increasingly advocated in which all three dimensions are comprehensively integrated and trade-offs are avoided to the extent possible.

The three-dimensional conceptualization thus offered various actors and institutions the opportunities for a fairly wide scope of interpretation and use of the sustainability dimensions. As a consequence, various academic disciplines, in particular environmental economics, sought to set up more binding and measurable definitions of the sustainability concept. Traditional economic disciplines tend however to focus most on the relation between environment and economics. Alongwith the development of the definition of sustainable development, procedural aspects gained prominence as well. In terms of process, sustainable development is perceived less as an ultimate outcome and more as a pathway to change. Thereby, more emphasis is put on factors that influence decision-making such as organisational culture, availability of information, the rationality of decision-making, and the use of impact assessment tools. The EU SDS is, in fact, a good example of a document with much emphasis on the procedural aspects.

Groundwater is an example of renewable resources. These resources are replenished by nature as in the case of crops and plants. However, even these resources may be overused. For example, in the case of groundwater, if we use more than what is being replenished by rain then we would be overusing this resource. Non-renewable resources are those which will get exhausted after years of use. We have a fixed stock on earth which cannot be replenished. We do discover new resources that we did not know of earlier. New sources in this way add to the stock. However, over time, even this will get exhausted.

Challenges to Sustainable Development and Environment

With the emergence of new process technologies that reduce the length of process chains, the possibilities of efficiency in resource use are enormous. The developing countries could take advantage of improvements in the efficiency of resource use already achieved in industrialized countries, and by adapting them to local conditions could not only reduce environmental costs but also “stretch” the resource base.

The increasing pressure on non-renewable resources (petroleum, copper, etc.), as well as the increasing constraints on sinks (ozone depletion, deforestation, dumping of solid wastes, etc.), suggest that throughput in the world economy has reached the global biophysical limits, and partially even surpassed them. Yet it is neither ethical nor efficient from an environmental point of view to expect the developing countries to cut or arrest their industrial growth, which has the potential to absorb the large and growing population of the South. In the future, however, more growth for the poor must be balanced by negative throughput growth for the rich.

Deforestation: Deforestation occurs for many reasons: trees or derived charcoal are used as, or sold, for fuel or as lumber, while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities, and settlements. The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland.

Threat to Bio-diversity: The major proximate causes of species extinction are habitat loss and degradation affecting 89 per cent of all threatened birds, 83 per cent of mammals and 91 per cent of all threatened plants assessed globally. The main causes of habitat loss are agricultural activities, extraction (including mining, fishing, logging and harvesting) and development (human settlements, industry and associated infrastructure). Habitat loss and fragmentation leads to the formation of isolated, small, scattered populations. These small populations are increasingly vulnerable to inbreeding depression, high infant mortality and susceptible to environmental stochasticity, and consequently, in the end, possible extinction. Changes in forest composition and quality, and the resultant habitat type lead to declines in primary food species for wildlife.

Effects of Climate Change: Climate change effects and adaptation and mitigation strategies: Effects of climate change on agriculture, water supply, forestry and coastal and marine resources. Mitigation strategies and the role of forests and mangroves. Adaptation strategies for agriculture and water supply. Carbon credit and food security implications of natural resource degradation and climate change. Climate change is a threat to mankind! Since the end of the 19th century the earth’s average surface temperature has increased by 0.3-0.6°C. Over the last 40 years, the rise has been 0.2-0.3°C. Recent years have been the warmest since 1860, the year when regular instrumental records became available. In the higher latitudes (in the northern countries) agriculture will benefit with the rise in temperature as the winter season will be shorter and the growing seasons longer. This will also mean that pests that will move towards the higher latitudes as the temperatures rise. Extreme weather conditions such as high temperature, heavy rainfall, floods, droughts, etc. will also affect crop production. A warmer climate will change rainfall and snowfall patterns, lead to increased droughts and floods; cause melting of glaciers and polar ice sheets, and result in accelerated sea-level rise. Coastal areas and small islands are among the most densely-populated parts of the world. They are also the most threatened because of rises in sea level that global warming may cause.

Increasing Pollution Levels: The environmental problems in India are growing rapidly. The increasing economic development and a rapidly growing population that has taken the country from 300 million people in 1947 to more than one billion people today is putting a strain on the environment, infrastructure and the country’s natural resources. Industrial pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and land degradation are all worsening problems. Overexploitation of the country’s resources be it land or water and the industrialization process has resulted environmental degradation of resources. Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing humanity and other life forms on our planet today.

India’s per capita carbon dioxide emissions were roughly 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) in 2007, according to the study. That’s small compared to China and the U.S., with 10,500 pounds (4,763 kilograms) and 42,500 pounds (19,278 kilograms) respectively that year. The study said that the European Union and Russia also have more emissions than India.

Ground Water Depletion and Pollution: Scholars all over the world reiterate the fact that it is not the water scarcity which is troubling the human beings. It is the lack of water management which is the root cause of the water problem. Unsystematic and unscientific tapping of groundwater all over the country had led to alarming fall in the levels of groundwater. Groundwater Board prepared a date which showed a near crisis situation developing in many areas of the country. Adding fuel to the fire the industries started discharging the toxic effluents without treating them. This further worsened the situation by contaminating the ground water which was already facing the decline in ground water levels. Either the Central Pollution Control Board or the State Pollution Control Boards were not in a position to either assess the extent of ground water contamination or identify the sources of contamination. The ground water board had no teeth or legal authority to take action against offending parties. Once again the Supreme Court of India reacting positively delivered a land mark judgment in this particular case. The judgment provided teeth to the Groundwater Board by investing with legal powers under the Environment Protection Act 1986 to issue licenses and take action against polluters even to the extent of closing down of offending industries.

Poor Health: India accounts for more than 20% of global maternal and child deaths and the highest maternal death toll in the world estimated at 138,000.United Nations calculations show that India's spending on public health provision, as a share of GDP is the 18th lowest in the world. Nearly 67% of the population in India do not have access to essential medicines. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in India was 67.6 in 1998-99 and has come down to 57 in 2005- 06. Kerala heads the progress made so far with an IMR of 15/1000 births. Uttar Pradesh has the worst IMR in the country of 73/1000 births. Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is currently 4 deaths per 1000 births. India accounts for the largest number of maternal deaths in the world. 79% of the children between the age of 6-35 months, and more than 50% of women, are anaemic, and 40% of the maternal deaths during pregnancy and child-birth relate to anaemia and under-nutrition. There are 585 rural hospitals compared to 985 urban hospitals in the country. Out of the 6,39,729 doctors registered in India, only 67,576 are in the public sector.

Literacy Rate: Only 66% per cent of the Indian people are literate (76% of men and 54% of women).While close to 90 per cent children in the 6-11 age group are formally enrolled in primary schools, nearly 40 per cent drop out at the primary stage. The enrolment ratios of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Muslim children (especially girls) still remain far lower than the national average. 1.36 crore (40 per cent) children in the age group of 6-14 years remained out of school as on March 2005. 

Environmental Sustainability: This relates with maintenance of carrying capacity of natural resource base and life support systems. This emphasizes on area of conservation of biodiversity hotspots, increase in forest cover, watershed protection, and adoption of holistic approach. Equally important are reduction of environmental threats, environmental pollution and adoption of environment friendly clean and green technologies to mitigate local to global level environmental problems such as biodiversity loss, climate change from an inter-generational equity perspective.

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