The “official” definition of sustainable development was developed for the first time in the Brundtland Report in 1987. Sustainable development is the idea that human societies must live and meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainable development is the idea that human societies must live and meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
The term first came into use in 1980 in the World Conservation Strategy held under the aegis of the International Union for Conservation and Development. The term was popularized by the study by the World Commission on the Environment and Development, Our Common Future (1987), also known as the Brundtland Report.
The idea of sustainability is rooted in utilitarian resource management principle, i.e., the technocratic notion of sustained yield. It refers to the exploitation of renewable resources which can be maintained without endangering the future flow of the same resource.
Specifically, sustainable development is a way of organizing society so that it can exist in the long term. This means taking into account both the imperatives present and those of the future, such as the preservation of the environment and natural resources or social and economic equity.
Historical Background & Idea of Sustainable Development
- The industrial revolution is connected to the rise of the idea of sustainable development. From the second half of the 19th century, Western societies started to discover that their economic and industrial activities had a significant impact on the environment and the social balance. Several ecological and social crises took place in the world and rose awareness that a more sustainable model was needed. Here are some examples of the economic and social crises that shook the world in the twentieth century:
- 1907: the American banking crisis
- 1923: the crisis of American hyperinflation
- 1929: the financial crisis of the 1930s begins
- 1968: the worldwide protests against bureaucratic elites
- 1973 and 1979: oil shocks
- 1982: the debt shock of developing countries
- And some examples of ecological crises:
- 1954: Rongelap nuclear fallout
- 1956: Mercury crisis of Minamata
- 1957: Torrey Canyon oil spill
- 1976: Seveso disaster
- 1984: Bhopal disaster
- 1986: Chernobyl nuclear disaster
- 1989: Exxon Valdez oil spill
- 1999: Erika disaster
- But also: global warming, air pollution, the issue of the ozone layer, the loss of biodiversity.
Tragedy of Commons
In 1968 the ecologist and philosopher Garret Hardin wrote an essay entitled the tragedy of the commons. He argued that if individuals act independently, rationally, and focused on pursuing their individual interests, they’d end up going against the common interests of their communities and exhaust the planet’s natural resources.
In this way, human free access and unlimited consumption of finite resource would extinguish these same resources. To Hardin, mankind needed to radically change its way of using global commons to avoid a disaster in the future – this would be the way to keep on a sustainable development track.
Club of Rome and Limits to Growth
A few years after Hardin’s essay, in 1972, Meadows et al., commissioned by the Club of Rome, ran a computer simulation that aimed to predict the consequences of what could happen in a planet with limited resources.
The interactions between 5 different dimensions – world population growth, industrialization, pollution generation, food production, and nonrenewable resource depletion – were analyzed, considering a scenario where these variables grew exponentially and technology’s ability to increase resources was linear.
The strongest ending scenario was that an economic and social collapse would happen by the end of the 21st century if man imposes no limits to growth. After more than 4 decades, these predictions seem to be right when it comes to pollution and its consequences – threatening sustainable development.
Stockholm Conference of UN
The concept of sustainable development has been evolving for more than 30 years. The 1972 United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, contributed to this evolution by emphasizing that protection of the human environment is a crucial element in the develop ment agenda. As a result of that conference, the United Nations Environment Programme Secretariat was established to promote international environmental cooperation.
World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987
In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by then Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland, issued a report entitled Our Common Future. Also known as the Brundtland Report, this landmark document suggests that creating separately existing environmental institutions is not enough because environmental issues are an integral part of all development policies. They are crucial to economic considerations and sector policies and should be integrated as part of energy decisions, social issues, and other aspects of development work
The Brundtland report, also known as Our Common Future, gave the most recognized and widely accepted definition of the term sustainable development in 1987. Following this report, “the human ability to ensure that the current development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” was the first widely accepted definition of sustainable development.
The World Commission on the Environment and Development also stood out that sustainable development needed to consider that developing has limitations. According to the organization, the “present state of technology and the social organization on environmental resources, together with the limited ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities” impose limitations on sustainable development.
RIO Earth Summit and Agenda 21, 1992
The next milestone in the evolution of sustainable development occurred at the 1992 UN Conference of Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, also known as the Earth Summit. Its major contribution was to give equal importance to the environment and development. It endorsed Agenda 21, both a think piece and a program of action governing human activities with an impact on the environment. It also endorsed the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the Statement of Forest Principles.
Kyoto Protocol
Most importantly, the Earth Summit helped finalize the UN Climate Change Convention and the Biodiversity Convention, both signed by a great number of heads of state. The UN Climate Change Convention and the recently ratified Kyoto Protocol have made significant contributions to the evolution of sustainable development. Article 4 of the UN Climate Change Convention provides that “the Parties [to that Convention] have the right to, and should, promote development.” The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism is designed in part to assist participating developing countries “in achieving sustainable development.”
Johannesburg World Summit on SD,2002
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, heads of state and world leaders committed to implement Agenda 21. They also decided to carry out a plethora of partnerships to promote sustainable development. These endeavors in our common cause have made sustainable development a part of everybody’s vocabulary and agenda. Once of concern only to environ mental specialists, sustainable development has become a concept that concerns everyone.
Concept of Environmental Sustainability
The human-environment relation must be a symbiotic one that calls for the protection, conservation, and improved management of the natural resources of the earth. It emphasizes that the restoration of vital resources should continue along with the exploitation of resources. A change in attitude towards the restoration of the environment is vital for the sustainable growth and development of our society. Ecosystems require a long time to reach their climax.
The ecosystem has four characteristics— complexity, stability, diversity, and resilience. The integrity of an ecosystem can be maintained, provided we have enough knowledge about its carrying capacity, it’s capacity of assimilation, and its renewability. Due to its integrated nature, harm caused to any one of the components may endanger the whole ecosystem.
It is necessary to conserve biodiversity by taking adequate conservation measures to restore natural as well as modified ecosystems.
The population is an important aspect in the study of environmental sustainability because the quality of human life is inseparable from the quality of the environment. The Man-land ratio indicates the carrying capacity of land as well as the assimilative capacities of the ecosystem. This ratio should be stable.
The four objectives of environmental planning are
- protection of the environment,
- rehabilitation and restoration of the ecosystem,
- enhancement of the carrying capacity of both natural and man- controlled ecosystems, and
- creation, expansion, and improvement of new ecosystems.
Dr. Kamal Taori, in his book Sustainable Human Development: Issues and Challenges, views the issues related to sustainable human development as linked to the question of happiness, historical lessons, role and attitudes of planners, resource organization, and impacts of hopeless and hopeful situations.
As long-term measures, appropriate technologies, judicious implementation of policies, women’s participation, rational economic behaviour, and a right blend of the material and the spiritual are put forward by Dr. Taori for sustainable development and thus saving the earth for future generations.
Sustainable Development of our times
The latest IPCC report demonstrated that big changes will need to happen quickly regarding the reduction of CO2 emissions to keep the Earth’s temperature below 2ºC and prevent its devastating impacts.
There are many actors working with different audiences in different areas of sustainability. They share the same goal – to raise awareness on this topic and to create conditions for it to grow and develop. One of the main players is the United Nations, where different teams actively work on multiple campaigns such as #beatplasticpollution or #solvedifferent, apart from organizing the meetings between the world leaders.
On the business side, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) helps its member companies to accelerate their businesses transition to create a sustainable world. There are also some certifications that reward (mostly through stamp recognition) the businesses with the best practices for the planet, such as the B-Corp movement, the Rainforest Alliance, the Fairtrade Foundation, or the Conscious Capitalism Movement.
At the same time, entities like the Elen MacArthur Foundation are opening the way when it comes to the circular economy and how societies and businesses can align how they use natural resources with the way nature does it. Aligning businesses’ operations across their supply chains is also allowing different and ecological business models to develop – such as growing mushrooms from coffee leftovers.
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- Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, a collective of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway governments, came up with a $1 billion fund.
- LEAF is supported by transnational corporations (TNCs) like Unilever plc, Amazon.com, Inc, Nestle, Airbnb, Inc as well as Emergent, a US-based non-profit.
- The world lost more than 10 million hectares of primary tropical forest cover last year, an area roughly the size of Switzerland.
- Ending tropical and subtropical forest loss by 2030 is a crucial part of meeting global climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals. Protecting tropical forests offers one of the biggest opportunities for climate action in the coming decade.
- Tropical forests are massive carbon sinks and by investing in their protection, public and private players are likely to stock up on their carbon credits.
- The LEAF coalition initiative is a step towards concretising the aims and objectives of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism.
- REDD+ was created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It monetised the value of carbon locked up in the tropical forests of most developing countries, thereby propelling these countries to help mitigate climate change.
- It is a unique initiative as it seeks to help developing countries in battling the double-edged sword of development versus ecological commitment.
- The initiative comes at a crucial time. The tropics have lost close to 12.2 million hectares (mha) of tree cover last year according to global estimates released by Global Forest Watch.
- Of this, a loss of 4.2 mha occurred within humid tropical primary forests alone. It should come as no surprise that most of these lost forests were located in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa and South Asia.
- Brazil has fared dismally on the parameter of ‘annual primary forest loss’ among all countries. It has lost 1.7 mha of primary forests that are rich storehouse of carbon. India’s estimated loss in 2020 stands at 20.8 kilo hectares.
- Between 2002-2020, Brazil’s total area of humid primary forest reduced by 7.7 per cent while India’s reduced by 3.4 per cent.
- Although the loss in India is not as drastic as in Brazil, its position is nevertheless precarious. For India, this loss is equivalent to 951 metric tonnes worth carbon dioxide emissions released in the atmosphere.
- It is important to draw comparisons between Brazil and India as both countries have adopted a rather lackadaisical attitude towards deforestation-induced climate change. The Brazilian government hardly did anything to control the massive fires that gutted the Amazon rainforest in 2019.
- It is mostly around May that forest fires peak in India. However, this year India, witnessed massive forest fires in early March in states like Odisha, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram among others.
- The European Union’s Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service claimed that 0.2 metric tonnes of carbon was emitted in the Uttarakhand forest fires.
- Implementation of the LEAF Coalition plan will help pump in fresh rigour among developing countries like India, that are reluctant to recognise the contributions of their forest dwelling populations in mitigating climate change.
- With the deadline for proposal submission fast approaching, India needs to act swiftly on a revised strategy.
- Although India has pledged to carry out its REDD+ commitments, it is impossible to do so without seeking knowledge from its forest dwelling population.
Context:-
At the recently concluded Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April 2021, Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, a collective of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway governments, came up with a $1 billion fund plan that shall be offered to countries committed to arrest the decline of their tropical forests by 2030.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]What is LEAF Coalition?
Why LEAF Coalition?
Brazil & India
According to the UN-REDD programme, after the energy sector, deforestation accounts for massive carbon emissions — close to 11 per cent — in the atmosphere. Rapid urbanisation and commercialisation of forest produce are the main causes behind rampant deforestation across tropical forests.
Tribes, Forests and Government
Disregarding climate change as a valid excuse for the fires, Indian government officials were quick to lay the blame for deforestation on activities of forest dwellers and even labelled them “mischievous elements” and “unwanted elements”.
Policy makers around the world have emphasised the role of indigenous tribes and local communities in checking deforestation. These communities depend on forests for their survival as well as livelihood. Hence, they understand the need to protect forests. However, by posing legitimate environmental concerns as obstacles to real development, governments of developing countries swiftly avoid protection of forests and rights of forest dwellers.
For instance, the Government of India has not been forthcoming in recognising the socio-economic, civil, political or even cultural rights of forest dwellers. According to data from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs in December, 2020 over 55 per cent of this population has still not been granted either individual or community ownership of their lands.
To make matters worse, the government has undertaken systematic and sustained measures to render the landmark Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 ineffective in its implementation. The Act had sought to legitimise claims of forest dwellers on occupied forest land.
Various government decisions have seriously undermined the position of indigenous people within India. These include proposing amendments to the obsolete Indian Forest Act, 1927 that give forest officials the power to take away forest dwellers’ rights and to even use firearms with impunity.
There is also the Supreme Court’s order of February, 2019 directing state governments to evict illegal encroachers of forest land or millions of forest dwellers inhabiting forests since generations as a measure to conserve wildlife. Finally, there is the lack of data on novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) deaths among the forest dwelling population;
Tardy administration, insufficient supervision, apathetic attitude and a lack of political intent defeat the cause of forest dwelling populations in India, thereby directly affecting efforts at arresting deforestation.
Way Forward
Tuntiak Katan, a global indigenous leader from Ecuador and general coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, aptly indicated the next steps at the Climate Summit:
“The first step is recognition of land rights. The second step is the recognition of the contributions of local communities and indigenous communities, meaning the contributions of indigenous peoples.We also need recognition of traditional knowledge practices in order to fight climate change”
Perhaps India can begin by taking the first step.