The Principles of Sustainable Development - Research Paper Example

Question 1: a) Sustainable Development Sustainable development refers to the developmental approach that is able to meet the various needs of the present generation, without negatively affecting the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs. Sustainable development contains two major concepts, namely the concept of limitations and that of needs. Under the idea of needs, priority should be given to the satisfaction of the various needs of the poor people (Nemeth, 2012). Under the concept of limitation, these are limitations that are imposed by social organizations or technological innovations with the intention of making the environment to have the capability of satisfying the current and the future needs of the society. Based on this definition, we are able to see sustainable development as a system that is able to connect time and space. By thinking of the world as a system that affects space, we are able to understand that air pollution in North Africa, has the capability of affecting the quality of air found in Asia, etc. Furthermore, by thinking of the world as a system that affects time, we are able to understand that our present activities will definitely have an impact on how the future generations live (Watts, 2013). The principles of sustainable development are therefore rooted in these concepts of system thinking. Sustainable development helps us to understand the world we live in, its environment, and how our activities are able to affect the environment, and how we can handle these activities for purposes of conserving the environment (Nemeth, 2012). Based on these facts, there are seven major principles of sustainable development. One important principle is the integration of economic and environmental decisions. According to this principle, the economic decisions that are made must reflect the consequences that these decisions would have, on the environment, health and social well being of the society. This therefore means that any economic decision that the government enacts should not have the capability of affecting the environment. For example, there is a debate on whether United States should drill oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Proponents argue that oil drilling would improve the economy of United States, while those against oil drilling denote that, drilling of oil would destroy the environment (Scherer, 2009). They believe that the Wildlife Refuge is an habitat of many wild animals, and oil drilling would destroy these habitat. Based on these facts, the economic value derived from oil drilling, cannot be compared to the environmental impact that oil drilling would cause in United States, Hence, drilling of oil is not a viable option for the government. The second principle of sustainable development is stewardship. Under this concept, there is a need of managing the environment, the economy, the social well being and human health, with the major intention of equally benefitting the future and the present generation. This principle best applies for UNEP, which is a global institution that has the responsibility of managing the environment. The vision of UNEP is to encourage partnerships, and provide leadership for purposes of protecting the environment (Nemeth, 2012). The organization aims at achieving this mission through education, and advocating for policies that can enable people to improve the quality of their lives, without destroying the environment, hence compromising the lives of future generations. Under this concept of stewardship, any activity or policy that is created, must factor in, the impact of this policy to the future generations. The third principle of sustainability development is shared understanding and responsibility. Under this principle, all the stakeholders of the environment must acknowledge that they have a shared responsibility in the protection and conservation of the environment. This is better depicted in the international talks aimed at reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere (Nemeth, 2012). The United States, China, United Kingdom, France and other world powers have collectively agreed on the negative impact of carbon to the atmosphere, hence there is a need of reducing the amount of carbon, their industries emit. For instance, United States has agreed to work in the reduction of approximately 26-28% of its carbon emission, while China is working towards the reliance of renewable sources of energy, for its industries (Watts, 2013). The fourth principle is the prevention of economic or environmental activities that would negatively affect the environment. This includes initiating measures and laws aimed at discouraging economic and environmental activities that can harm the environment, health or the economic status of a community. For example, the 1990 environmental protection act of the United Kingdom was established for purposes of controlling the carbon emission in the UK environment, and management of waste products in the United Kingdom (Gifford, 2004). It aims at preventing the destruction of the British environment. The fifth and the sixth principles goes hand in hand. The fifth principle is conservation, while the sixth principle is rehabilitation. There is a need of conserving and rehabilitating the environment. This involves identifying environmental areas that are destroyed, and initiating measures of rehabilitating them, and conserving them. An example is the Duwamish River in the United States, where the Federal government has set aside more than 250 million dollars for purposes of conserving and rehabilitating the river. Finally, global responsibility is the last principle of sustainability development. Under this principle, any economic or environmental activity would most definitely affect other nations. This principle is developed based on the fact that there is a social, economic and ecological interdependence amongst people and communities. b). Civil Engineers and Low Carbon emissions: Civil engineers mostly use concrete for purposes of building and construction. Concrete is always produced from three main components, namely water, aggregate and cement. The entire world normally uses approximately 7 billion cubic meters of concrete within any given year. This makes it to be the most widely used industrial component after water. This is because the construction industry heavily depends on concrete for constructions, and hence it is impossible to build structures without it (Gifford, 2004). The world is continuously under construction. When we compare concrete to steel and other construction materials, concrete amounts to approximately 3 to 8 percent of the global carbon emission. Based on these facts, as a civil engineer, I would look for ways of concretes that are environment friendly. From the existing research, it is now possible to produce concrete, by using byproducts derived from biofuels. Bio-fuels normally emanate from materials such as wheat straw, wood chip, etc (Watts, 2013). Their byproducts normally have lignin and cellulose, and when these are combined with cement, they are able to react chemically, making cement to be stronger. As a civil engineer, I would advocate for the use of such substances in making concrete, and this is because it has the capability of reducing the emission of carbon into the atmosphere (Gifford, 2004). I would advocate for further research in this issue, writing journals and articles aimed at sensitizing my peers on the existence of such technology, which makes it possible to produce concrete by the use of by products which emanate from bio-fuels. Question 2: Climate Change and Civil Engineering Civil engineering, energy and climate change are closely related, and these relations are depicted in a variety of forms or methods. The society cannot function without energy, nor the work that civil engineers undertake (Watts, 2013). However, due to the extensive use of energy, the world is now vulnerable to the negative aspects of climate change. An example is global warming, which refers to the gradual heating of the atmosphere, oceans and surface of earth. Due to global warming, the average temperature of earth has risen by approximately 0.8 degree Celsius (Nemeth, 2012). Furthermore, because of climate change, there is a reduction in the accessibility of clean drinking waters, and an increase in floods, which would most definitely lead to the destruction of infrastructures that are put in place, for purposes of helping mankind to achieve growth, and live in prosperity. One of the major causes of these changes in climate is the emission of green house gases into the atmosphere. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Civil engineering is one of the professions that are responsible for the high emission of carbon dioxide and other green house gases into the atmosphere. Take for instance the use of concrete in the construction industry. Garbrecht (2006) explains that nearly 5% of the carbon emission to the atmosphere emanates from the concrete industry. This is from energy that emanates from concrete, to the emission of carbon dioxide which emanates from cement which is a byproduct of concrete. It is important to understand that energy that emanates from concentrate is as a result of the heating of limestone, in its kilns for purposes of producing CaO. Based on these facts, Garbrecht (2006) explains that civil engineers play a significant role in the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, hence negatively affecting the climate. For achieving a good and efficient sustainable development, there is a need of reducing the amount of energy and carbon dioxide that civil engineers emit to the atmosphere. This is by the reduction of the use of concrete. However, this is a difficult process to achieve, mainly because the development of the world is attributed to the building of infrastructures such as roads, buildings, railways, etc. It is next to impossible to build these infrastructures without the use of concrete. Based on these facts, there is a need of carrying out research, and coming up with an alternative material that can be used in making concrete (Watts, 2013). Furthermore, climate change has an impact in affecting the various infrastructures developed and manufactured by civil engineers. It is therefore the duty and responsibility of civil engineers to develop measures and policies aimed at mitigating climate change, and behaviors of people which definitely leads to the destruction of the environment. Take for example in the department of transportation. This is a department that requires the daily attention of civil engineers. This is because they are responsible for the construction of roads, railways, and other infrastructures that make up the transport system of a state or a region. Baker (2006) explains that the transportation industry is one of the major causes of green house gas emissions, having produced approximately 23% of the global greenhouse gas emissions in 2013. Civil engineers are therefore tasked with the development of long term sustainable transportation infrastructure that will help in the reduction of these gases. However, it is important to explain that this would be quite a challenge to civil engineering professionals, mainly because they will have to work with other professionals in turning this into a success. On a specific note, they will have to collaborate with mechanical and civil engineers. This is a challenging process because the mission and vision of these engineers would most definitely differ (Nemeth, 2012). However, because of the reality of the effects of climate change, there is a shift towards the manufacture of automobiles and vehicles that have the capability of saving energy, and reducing the emission of carbon dioxide and other green house gases into the atmosphere. Furthermore, climate change has an effect on urban planning, which is one of the major areas of civil engineering. Effective planning of urban areas, for purposes of reducing sprawls would have an impact in the reduction of the miles travelled by vehicles (Watts, 2013). This would in turn lower the carbon emissions that emanates from the transportation industry. Based on these facts, the reason for initiating reforms in the urban planning sector is to reduce the mileage, in which vehicles will travel. This would in turn reduce the rates of carbon emissions that these vehicles produce. Scholar further explains that climate change has had an impact in the emergence of new building designs (Watts, 2013). Civil engineers are now forced to construct new buildings by the use of zero energy building techniques, low energy building, and passive solar building design. This is for purposes of conserving energy, and reducing the emission of green house gases. Bibliography: Baker, S. (2006). Sustainable development. London: Routledge. Top of Form Bottom of Form Garbrecht, J. (2006). Climate variations, climate change, and water resources engineering. Reston, Va.: American Society of Civil Engineers. Top of Form Bottom of Form Gifford, C. (2004). Sustainable development. Oxford: Heinemann Library. Top of Form Bottom of Form Nemeth, J. (2012). Climate change. New York: PowerKids Press. Top of Form Bottom of Form Scherer, L. (2009). Climate change. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Top of Form Bottom of Form Watts, R. (2013). Engineering response to climate change (2nd ed.). Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis. Top of Form Bottom of Form Er, I. (2010). Global warming engineering solutions. Dordrecht: Springer. Read More