International Environment Management and Sustainability Program - Research Paper Example

International environment management and sustainability program International environment management and sustainability Introduction The current focus on the development of energy saving approaches and the adoption of positive energy management approaches has led to the development of a number of programs aimed at improving energy conservation. Rampant and uncontrolled use of energy has been associated with increased negative impacts on the climate. These have massive impacts on the health of the people and increase the occurrence of a number of natural calamities associated with climate change. These include the Hurricane Katrina and the earthquakes that have continued to wreak havoc on the lives of people in different parts of the world. The development of international environmental management program has remained a key focus in different parts of the globe. This has been attributed to the development of innovative projects that aim to increase energy saving initiative across the globe (Lenton & Muller, 2009). The scarcity of water related to the current changes in weather patterns has also led to an emergent need to control the overall consumption of water in different parts of the world. Different approaches have been developed to tackle the issue of water shortage and most of the approaches developed have sought to developed water management approaches. Waste from human beings, animals and from the households also contribute to an increase in the overall pollution of the environment. As a result, international environmental management programs have sought to introduce a number of waste management approaches that improve sustainability (Lenton & Muller, 2009). Energy saving The growing world population has led to an increase in the overall consumption of energy in different parts of the world. Energy is used in different sectors of the economy to enhance production, farming and light and drive domestic appliances. However, energy is non-renewable source of energy that must be preserved to enable the environmental gain self-sustainability. The operation of Bolton thermal recovery site has a number of environmental impacts, which are both highly desired today to restore our environmental degradation. Some of the effects from the operation of the plant may be hazardous to the environment due to emissions and the generation of particles, that can create heating in the atmosphere. The bottom motivation behind the overall operations of the plant seeks to reduce the environmental damage that solid waste has created (Wang & Wiser, 2002). Adapted from http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/03/11/energy-efficiency-is-great-but-we-have-to-ask-at-what-cost/ Commit Developing energy saving approaches is essential for the development of cleaner and environmental friendly approaches of production and operations in different sectors of the economy. Commitment to the entire process must be gained from all the industry platers including governments, multinationals and regional companies who contribute towards the higher energy consumption. As a result, non-biodegradable solid wastes are combusted at higher temperatures in special furnace to produce energy, which are used to heat water to generate steam. Environmental conservation has been one of the major concerns of various international bodies the world over. This is attributed to the high level of greenhouse gas emission that has occurred and continues to occur around the globe. Understand A number of approaches exists that can be adopted towards energy saving and the development of a sustainable environmental conservation program. To achieve this, the stakeholders and contributors must understand the available approaches and make a commitment towards adopting the energy saving approaches developed. The operations of a thermal recovery facility have the potential to conserve and clean our environment and also harm the environment. Each situation depends on the ability of the facility to implement and come up with measures that can curb any environmental harm that can arise from their operations (licock, 2008). Plan However, a lot still need to be done by the facility to facilitate environmental conservation and adoption of environmental laws and regulations (Mohr, 2005). A biannual evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation is necessary to enable the facility management generate a report on their ability to abide to environmental laws. Such an evaluation should assess both the impacts of the combustions processes and the possibility of any leakages which may be hazardous to the environment. The facility should also improve their environmental reporting approach and frequency. An environmental approach enables the company have an external audit which can provide them with ways to measuring their strengths and weaknesses (Mills, 2012). Execute This process has significant implication in the restoration of environmental degradation that has almost reached irreversible levels. In using non-biodegradable particles seeks to reduce the potential of reducing the overall solid particles scattered all around the cities of Manchester. Environmental watchdog and bodies have used the solid waste to refill landmines directly and other manholes created by human activity. However, this process has a number of negative implications on the environment as such solid waste does not decay. It has the potential of turning such waste to harmless ashes, which are then used, in the filling process. The ashes generated from the furnace are only 25% of the original solid waste that was fed into the furnace. The environmental impacts of the wastes such as polymers and other non-biodegradable materials are reduced tremendously if they are subjected to high temperature combustion in the furnaces. Direct use of the solid wastes in refilling the landmines reduces the economic benefits that such materials have. It creates and adds value to the solid waste before using it for environmental restorations (Lenton & Muller, 2009). Optimum operation of the facility has a number of economic impacts to the United Kingdom and the European Union as a whole. Apart from creation of massive job employment opportunities, the plant increases the electricity generation in the country by adding 7 megawatts into the national grid and producing enough energy to power its own activities. Such massive amount of electric energy is enough to meet almost half of the electricity requirements in Manchester and its surrounding. The menace of solid waste management is a major concern to major economies in the world, such waste range from biodegradable household waste, industrial wastes, e-wastes and general waste generated from our streets. Sound environmental policies and regulatory legal notices are essential to enable a country constructively use its solid waste to reclaim the environment. The United Kingdom has legal frameworks that have allowed the establishment of energy saving facilities, which is attributed to reduced waste in the city of Manchester and its neighbourhood (Fewtrell & Kay, 2008. Water management Water management remains a vital program in different parts of the globe due to potential it holds in eradicating the water challenges across the world. Water is used for different purposes and this makes it an essential commodity both to human beings and animals yet its scarcity present challenges to different people. To enhance environmental sustainability, the preservation of water must remain key and guide the operation of public and private facilities in the United Kingdom. To help the planet from the ravaging effects of climate change, the world must rise today and develop mitigation strategies that seek to address the problem and the sources of climate change. Adapted from http://annualreport2011.dsm.com/pages/EN/section-327124.html Commit The United Nations and other environmental bodies have been at the forefront in ensuring that a number of approaches and strategies are adopted to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to reduce the impacts of global warming to climate change. Private and public businesses have been identified as entities that play vital roles in the mitigation of climate change and thus must be involved as key players in attempts to reduce its effects (Lenton & Muller, 2009). A number of measures and strategies have been adopted to enable private businesses increase their participation in climate change control measures. Climate change mitigation is efforts that have been adopted to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and thus reduce the devastating impacts of climate change. A number of approaches are involved in mitigation measures and these includes the adoption of new green technologies, manufacture of more efficient and energy saving machines and the development of management practices and human consumerism manners that conserve the environment (Hester & Harrison, 2009). Understand According to the United Nations environmental program (UNEP), a third of the world’s total energy is consumed inside buildings used as offices, houses and schools. The buildings are thus considered today as the world’s highest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. The process of constructing these buildings does not help either as it also uses a lot of energy thus depleting the scarce natural resources and generating large solid wastes (Prowse & Peskett, 2008). Climate change mitigation measures have thus concentrated on developing energy efficient building by adopting house models that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Greener construction methods have been adopted with an aim of improving the energy efficiency of the structures and reducing the GHG emissions. Existing technological use also guarantees a cheaper construction method for these energy efficient buildings that emit less greenhouse gases (Matsuda et al, 2012). Plan With increased world population, continuous manufacturing of goods from the industry must be sustained to economically sustain them. This is however currently done by environmental unfriendly methods which affects the environmental conservation further and increase climate change. The sector of manufacturing is believed to account for over 20% of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, a gas that is known to increase the greenhouse effect and global warming. Mitigation measures adopted have sought to change the approaches of production adopted to ensure the withdrawal of negative environmental impacts as a result of manufacturing. Modern innovative industrial practices such as recycling of industrial waste and the reduction of effluents released to the environment will serve to reduce the impacts of manufacturing on global warming and climate change (Matsuda et al, 2012). With an increase in population and the world’s per capita income, the demand for energy has considerably increased as compared to the decades before. The increasing thirst for energy however serves as a serious challenge to climate change mitigation approaches as greener lifestyle demands the decreased use of non-renewable energy. The cost of fossil fuel has also proved to be environmentally unsustainable due to its non-renewable status and depleting reserves. This makes it essential for the world to shift focus from non-renewable energy sources to other greener, cheap and renewable energy alternatives like wind and solar energy. This will reduce the overall emissions to the environment as these alternative sources of energy are cleaner as compared to fossil fuels that have larger emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (Hester & Harrison, 2009). Execute According to UNEP, a three strategic mitigation approach should be adopted that will ensure that the use of vehicle as a means of transport is gradually avoided. This will provide room for other public and mass means of transport like the railway to reduce the cumulative greenhouse gases emitted in one particular day. Vehicles should also be made cleaner through the manufacture of more efficient and energy conserving vehicle models than the ones currently on the road (Lenton & Muller, 2009). The increased population has also created a surge in the transport sector resulting into an increase in the demand for faster but environmentally unfriendly transport option. The currently used transport methods have also been shown to release high volume of greenhouse gases, only second to the manufacturing sector. Vehicle transport mode remains one of the common methods with everyone struggling to own a vehicle despite the impacts it has one the environment (Hester & Harrison, 2002). Valuate Increasing the overall forest cover on the planet will thus cushion the world from the devastating impacts of global warming and climate change through the absorption of the gases. Increasing forest cover can be achieved through the initiation of mass afforestation and reforestation in areas that were destroyed by illegal and legal loggers. Finally, the total forest population in the world must be increased and all forest destruction activities currently being undertaken illegally to be stopped. Forests have the ability to absorb the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and use them in their respirational activities which thus acts to reduce the overall concentration of GHG in the atmosphere. (Matsuda et al, 2012). Waste management A number of waste management approaches exist and these are essential in the attainment of environmental sustainability and conservation. Apart from water and energy saving approaches, environmental sustainability can only be achieved if the day to day waste generated is managed appropriately. Some regions have become more vulnerable because of the climate change impacts due to their position in the world map and their proximity to affected water masses (Hester & Harrison, 2002). Others have been affected by the devastating impacts of climate change due to their low economic ability to front a stronger disaster preparedness and management measures that can ensure a reduction in the number of overall deaths and destruction of property. Adapted from http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/SolidWaste/20020513/ Commit Apart from the consequences so far discussed that touches on human beings, climate change also affects the animals, human health and other economic avenues with similar magnitude. Exposure to extreme weather conditions are risky to human health and can result into a number of diseases and medical conditions. With climate change, the normal weather conditions are pushed to the extremes with the cold seasons being colder and the hot seasons experiencing heat shock kind of heat. These health implications of climate change have been shown to affect the poor in a country more as compared to the rich as the poor lacks appropriate protection measures to ensure they can withstand the heat shock without affecting their lives (Hester & Harrison, 2009). Even though all countries within the European Union are at the risks of climate change, the impacts of the activities vary from one country to another due to the economic difference of the countries in this block. The areas close to the Mediterranean basis, mountainous areas and those densely populated areas within the continent are more exposed to the impacts of climate change especially flooding and uncontrolled destruction of property. The high concentration of the urban population in Europe has also contributed to the inability of the governments to adopt proper measures to protect its people against the ravaging heat waves and the rising sea level (Matsuda et al, 2012). Understand Such sectors have been extensively affected by the unpredictable weather patterns associated with climate change and this has resulted into significant economic losses to countries affected. Some plants and animal species are also facing extinction due to their inability to cope with the fast changing weather conditions across the globe. The rapid warming and cooling phases have resulted into weather conditions that are so unfavourable for these animal and plants for example the polar bear the depends on the ice seas to survive and the fish species found in these regions that are currently melting and affecting the oceanic balance (Scafetta, 2010). The ravaging damages to property, which arises, from extensive flooding, earthquakes and tsunamis also affect the infrastructural development of a region thus affecting the economic growth of a country. Flooding activities taking place in the European Union regions are estimated to have cost the lives of over 2,500 people and affected the economic abilities of over 5.5 million people in the bloc since 1980. This has resulted into massive economic loss estimated to over £100 billion cumulative loss from the ravaging floods, heat waves and extreme cold temperatures associated with climate change. Certain sectors in the economy also rely heavily on certain predictable weather conditions and precipitation levels to thrive and these include the agricultural sector, forestry and tourism (Matsuda et al, 2012). Plan The frequencies of hot extremes and heat waves will double in various parts of the world, especially in Europe and this will result into massive migrations, as these regions will become inhabitable by human populations. Scientist has given a prediction of the future trends in climate and weather patterns attributed to the rapid changes in the climate that are currently witnessed. This will increase the overall sea volumes and create rooms for flooding and strong waves in beaches currently used for tourism and leisure purposes. Evaluate Through the adoption of environmental friendly waste management approaches, the environment is supported and is cleaned from the wastes. Tropical cyclones are also likely to increase in intensity, which has the potential of causing massive destruction of property and life. As these weather patterns changes, the water resources will dry up while other fresh water bodies will be taken up by the salty seawaters due to the rising of the sea volume. This will result into massive human and animal problems due to the inability to access freshwaters within different parts of the world that will be affected. (Matsuda et al, 2012). Conclusion Environmental sustainability is the main concern today in the fight towards managing the environment and eliminating activities that increase climate change. If left unattended to, environmental degradation can affect the ability of our ecosystem to self-sustain and support the life on it. In this paper, different programs that are currently in place in different parts of the world have been discussed to highlight the efforts that have been made towards achieving environmental sustainability. Waste management, water conservation and energy saving approaches are some of the programs that have been developed by different agencies to help achieve environmental sustainability. 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