What is sustainable development? Well that depends on who you ask. To many, sustainable development is the ability to grow the economy within the carrying capacity of the natural world while maintaining a high level of social and cultural well being. Varying views exist about this topic depending on which demographic is providing the definition. Corporate views generally focus on economics, while conservationist views focus on the environment. There are also many people who believe that sustainable development is actually a threat to the western way of life and would see fit to develop in a very unsustainable way. So with all the confusion and varying opinions how are we to get anything done?
To me and many others, sustainability provides the only real future. If we continue on this path we are destined for an ecological crash which in turn will likely cause an economic crash and thus cause a serious social crisis.
Is it even possible to change now? Consumption is a way of life and society likes it. Convenience has become dominant over conservation, and the majority doesn’t seem to mind. Now and again we are given hope by talks from government about alternative energy and green initiatives, but then they decide to expand oil sands operations in Alberta and build new mega highways in Toronto (among many other contradictory actions). Pursuit of the almighty dollar and growth of the economy dominate future decisions. http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/news.php?CID=&NID=7074&Title=NGOs+call+for+stronger+role+for+Parliament+in+sustainable+development
Sustainable development is a conundrum, we know that change is critical and we must adopt a whole new system yet very little is actually getting done on a mass scale.
The globe in fact is probably less sustainable than ever with the industrialization of the third world. I have heard it said many times that “who are we to deny these many people what we in the west take for granted?” my response is that look at the damage less than a billion people in the already developed world have caused, now times that by four or five. If these growing and booming economies follow in the footsteps of the west than I fear the earth is in for some very hard times. The following link to a UN document on sustainable development details the many challenges that the global economic and local economic system faces. The need for change is pressing and with all of these obstacles I have little faith that the third worlds development will be even remotely sustainable.
Who knows maybe all governments and the global population will come together to truly battle climate change and develop the world in a more sustainable manner. China may switch to solar and wind instead of coal, North America may develop a series light rail systems eliminating much of the traffic problems. However it is not likely, in my very pessimistic point of view, I don’t think the collective will of the people is there in order to drive the change necessary within a timeline that is appropriate. The economic system is in charge and doesn’t accommodate change easily. Our society has become lazy and dependant on convenience, it will likely take a crisis to really stimulate change.
So what is sustainable development? Sustainable development is the growing of the economy, while maintaining the integrity of the environment and society. Sustainable development is a dream, the optimistic cure to the cancer of the industrial revolution. The earth and its people are terminally ill and the “cure” may be too little, too late.
There may be hope however; I will be using this blog over the course of the next 10 weeks to critically examine various components of sustainable development solutions that can be used locally and globally to change the way our society and planet is being developed. Can the human race get off its collective lazy a$% and make the necessary sacrifices? Or will the almighty economy keep us complacent and ignorant…we shall see.
