The Concept of Sustainable Development - Coursework Example

OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF ADOPTING A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT APPROACH WITHIN A SECTOR OF YOUR CHOICE: Adopting Integrated Chemicals Management(ICM) Approach in the Manufacturing Industry Sector The concept of sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” which was introduced in 1987 by Brundtland Commission which is the World Commission on Environment and Development (cited in IIED, 2007, p. 1). Moreover, Adams (2009) argued that sustainable development involves increasing the economic capability of a given region or country without necessarily causing harm to the environment. Harm is caused to the environment when unnatural materials are knowingly or unknowingly disposed of to the environment and these may be done in water, on land or the air. According to Glenn and Danie (2005), there are several sustainable development approaches that can be adopted in making sure that the environment in general is safe from abuse. With consideration of the issues surrounding sustainable management and development, there are principles and dimensions of sustainable development that can directly be applied to every given level of pollution. This essay seeks to establish the opportunities and limitations of adopting a sustainable development approach within given sectors of the economy. Specified information will be drawn from the principles and dimensions of sustainable development. The approaches in application will the Integrated Chemicals Management (ICM) approach and the sector under consideration will the manufacturing industry. The essay will therefore establish knowledge on the opportunities available in adopting ICM as a method of sustainable development. It will then seek to address the limitations of adopting the same in approach in the development practices. Glenn and Daniel (2005, p 3) described that Integrated Chemicals Management (ICM) approach as “an overarching concept that considers production, formulation, processing, transport and distribution, use as well as disposal of chemicals in a manner that is integrated and holistic so that it has no adverse effects to the environment”. The process considers a collection of factors and components that make it a better way of chemical production, use and disposal. These components are the life cycle approach, stakeholder involvement, effective co-ordination between different governments and creation of workable synergies (Glenn and Danie, 2005, p 4-6). In the life cycle approach, there is coverage of the life cycle of given groups of chemicals in given industrial processes (Unitar, 1997). Effective co-ordination between different governments is a process that considers the entire political leadership from the local authorities to different groups of interest to the cause (Unitar, 2004). At international level, it is noted that Annex I and Annex II countries have different levels of exposure to chemical disposure, and co-ordination is important in levelling the rates of chemical use and disposal (Blaikie, 2006). Consideration of all these factors determines the fact that it is possible to have as many opportunities as possible in adopting ICM as a method of sustainable development. As an approach and principle, ICM is based on relying on a collection of other factors to be effectively implemented. Companies that take part in manufacturing engage in transformation of raw materials to thousands of different products. Some of the most basic raw materials that are used are oil, gas water and other minerals. This makes use of bulk chemicals (Makower, 2014). Therefore, the first opportunity that can be applicable to adoption of sustainable management is in the actual production of manufactured products. In this case, the companies must search for raw materials from various places that would be used in making their products. If the conservation of the environment has to be taken care of, then the materials must be obtained sustainably. Consider the Greenergy Company and its affiliates in the UK. The company whose main shareholders are Tesco, Owens family and Caradog produce thousands of products and the management has taken an economic sustainable policy to safeguard the environment through green production. In this case, the company has directly applied the principle of ‘economic efficiency’ to highly reduce the effects of its chemicals to the environment. Where the company accidentally poluutes the environment, it has taken a unilateral decision to bear the costs of the same and regain the public confidence. Tesco and companies within the international line as such have strongly adopted the aspect of corporate social responsibility to curb higher levels of chemical pollution. To obtain these chemicals, there must be consensus between the production companies in the foreign country and the importing country. Berr (2009) mentioned that chemical production industry is an industry that is energy intensive. Therefore, opportunities arise from activities that are importantly related to climate and the influence of the chemicals. As chemicals move from where they are produced to where they are used, they are spread over a given distance in the different climates. This is bound to increase their area of effect to the environment. These processes occur at the marine, terrestrial and fresh water levels. One particular activity is the release of the greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Therefore it is very important that is taken as an opportunity to adopt a sustainable development project through adopting ICM approach to reduce the pollutions. The level of accountability in such a case is so high that companies will need to practice “respect for the ecosystems support authorities”. This is because there can never be as close a concern on every drop of chemical that moves from one country to another for manufacturing. However, the company management will be supposed to directly apply the environmental dimension to determine that it will be accountable in case of any leakage. According to IPCC (2007), the temperatures in the arctic regions have increased twice as much as the global average and increased at a rate ranging about 5 times more than any other part of the world. In this case, it takes political will and economic steps to curb the situations. This situation lies under the chemical life cycle aspect where there are procedural reactions that lead to fatal effects to the environment. Forecasts have revealed that the arctic region will be ice-free by the year 2040 which is a very dangerous aspect to the whole world (Wake, 2003). There is already evidence of distress from animals that live in such conditions such as the walruses, polar bear, the spotted seal and other forms of seal. Coastal communities are also not left behind as they are directly affected as their culture, social and economic beings depend on the presence of such a climate (Johnston et al., 2012). The greatest factor contributing to this has been the persistent mobilization and the transportation of pollutants that are organic in nature that emanate from both local and other distant places. For instance, Drax is a UK based power company that releases 21,000 tonnes of CO2 in the environment and has directly contributed to climate changes in the arctic regions. In this case, the UK government has taken responsibility and determined that it planned to reduce the flow by a greater margin in 2008. Little has changed so far. Furthermore, Herbst (2000) determined that there is a ‘nexus in Africa’ where there have become widespread conflicts about resource allocations. Africans (considered an Annex II continent definite by UNFCCC) have ever more blamed the developed world (Annex I definite by UNFCCC) over the misuse of resources. It is stated that the Annex I nations ‘take first class resources and deposit chemicals in return’. According to UNEP annual report 2013, since the start of the new millennium, the world has witnessed more than 40 conflicts considered to be major and over 2500 disasters and millions have died and billions have been displaced. (UNEP, 2013). In this case, many of the conflicts have been led by greed. A good example is in the Democratic Republic of Congo where western nations have been known to exploit the many mineral resources and in the end, deposit chemical wastes when done. As much as there are internal conflicts, the external economies have played a big role in determining the levels of pollution in the country. The Congo basin is one of the places with the largest natural forests on earth and if affected negatively by chemicals, there is bound to be devastating results in the cause of time (Phillips, 2010). Moreover, the governments in the region will continue blaming the Annex I nations based on the levels of pollution to the area. It is therefore worth noting that apart from the stakeholder conversations, there is supposed to be government to government agreements that would oversee peace and sustainability to the environment in the area. Apparently, nobody seems to take care of the situation and several international environmental summits have not helped reverse the situations. The levels of participation and commitment have not been verily successful. Another opportunity of ICM approach is the creation of coherence in the environmental sustainability in terms of the way the chemicals are released to the atmosphere and other natural resource catchment areas. Consider the growth of the levels of piracy on the Somali maritime waters in the horn of Africa (Murphy, 2007; Onuoha, 2009). One of the causes was that the Annex I vessels used to dump chemical waste materials in the Somali maritime waters simply because there was no stable government to take care of the region. The levels of pollution has escalated so much that the fishermen were lacking fish in the waters. With nothing to catch in terms of fish, the fishermen turned to piracy. This is a strong point of conflict in trade (Murphy, 2007). There is also much mining in the Amazon especially when one considers that there is alluvial gold in the Amazon River and its floodplains areas. Mercury is deposited in the river system and its environments leading to there being a collection of pollution aspects. It is estimated that for every 2.2 pounds of gold produced, there is a deposit of 1.32 pounds of mercury in the river system (cited in Butler, 2012). Moreover, cyanide is a highly toxic compound that is used in the separation of the gold from the surface rocks. This chemical is always bound to remain in the natural system and start its transformational movements to other sections of the water bodies. Given that mining is done through blasting away of the natural rocks, there is high exposure of the metal sulphides which, when exposed to surface water and oxygen forms very strong sulphuric acid that has a corrosive characteristic. These are chemicals that are dangerous to the water animals and the people that consume large volumes of the fish that is associated with the system (Butler, 2012). Environmental governance therefore provides an opportunity to exercise sustainability in which case all environmental stakeholders need to take responsibility. This connection between the destruction of the Amazon, the mining for gold and interference with the natural system of the environment is important in establishing a need to adopt (ICM) sustainable management practices. The governments of Brazil and others bound by the Amazon belt are fully responsible for the environmental lapses in sustainable development and production. The measures that have been taken in this region are that the governments bound by the belt have been admonished for wilfully destroying the forests for economic gain. However, the rate of destruction is still alarming and more measures need to be taken. From the perspective of UNEP (2013), chemical hazard reduction and the effective transition to the green economy is an important aspect that would reduce the link between chemical exposure and production through manufacturing. Every opportunity to dispose of waste comes with the challenge of having to be effectively managed. Every type of pollution happens in a situation that is importantly disastrous to the end environment. In every case, there is always a chemical compound attached to it. This creates an opportunity to adopt ICM approach as an aspect of sustainability in the given sectors. In the case of chemical disposal, it is important that some strategies are initiated and maintained in a collection of sustainable manners to avoid further impacts to the environment. The UNEP has held all countries and companies responsible for forest destruction. Through the principle of “respect for the ecosystems support authorities”, it has managed to convince low ICM levels among companies involved. This has been very practical in Europe especially Germany. One of the most outstanding limitations of this method is that it involves understanding chemical process in an industry. There are several situations where the involvement of some of the most useful chemicals cannot be ascertained as importantly understood. For instance, Butler (2012) argued that at the gold production and manufacturing, mercury is used. This is heavy metal whose cycle is not fully understood. Therefore, there are limitations on the basis that the chemical components under scrutiny are not fully understood. Resolution of the processes becomes difficult even if the different stakeholders mentioned in this case are involved. Consider the factory processes in paper industry. For efficiency purposes, there must be high concentrations of chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate and chlorine among many others. There are also extreme levels of water use in the process. The waste water and other fluids are left off to the atmosphere and over a long period of time, there is absolute pollution to the environment. At the disposal process, there are significant levels of waste left to the environment. There are a collection of aerobic and anaerobic processes that are used instead of the chemicals in the preparation. However, these have been found to lack sufficient levels of application. The annex II countries are not able to apply these either because they do not have the manpower or it is too expensive to afford them. Therefore, ICM is therefore hampered by these factors of the countries lacking the right technology or the process being inevitable. It becomes a strong limitation to sustainability and there is little that can be done to curb the situation. The other issue is the aspect of personal interests and corruption. Agin (2010) argued that in the USA, it has been determined severally that banned chemicals have been used in various manufacturing processes. Countries like Brazil have loggers and illegal users of chemicals that have been contributing to the reduction of the Amazon. In the end, the international sustainability goals are hampered by such governments (Agin, 2010). Many Annex II countries have acted as dumping grounds for some very toxic chemicals that manufacture goods in the Annex I countries. Therefore, all forms of sustainability are limited by the end processes that seek to satisfy interests of the political elites. For instance, according to in 2006, a Panama flagged ship arrived in Ivory Coast with very toxic waste from the Netherlands. The wastes were offloaded at the Abidjan port and dumped in 12 sites in the country. There was a serious health crisis in the country. Over 100,000 people sought medical attention due to these chemicals (cited in White, 2008). These practices undermine the sustainability practices of ICM and leading to it being such a strong limitation to ICM application. In this case, all principles of sustainable development were done against. However, the company involved was strongly reprimanded and made to pay for all the losses incurred. Environmental groups in the Ivorian nation got involved though the loss was already done. Another limitation is that it involves a collection of stakeholders and this includes governments (Ayers and Dodman, 2010, p. 80). In many cases, governments are corrupt means of carrying out transactions. There has been known to be heavy laundering in terms of money and other resources for power to rule resources. This has been the major cause of the different conflicts in different parts of the world. According to Ayers and Dodman (2010), corruption is so much rife in the waste disposal sectors in practically all parts of the world. The EU was due to review the waste management legislation in the region in May 2014. The agenda was aimed at trying to increase the levels of transparency. To conclude, there are many opportunities of adopting sustainable development in everyday life. This essay sought to discuss the various opportunities available in application of the sustainable development and the limitations of the same. In view of this, the principle chosen was ICM. The sector chosen was the manufacturing industry with factor references to production and consumption of the chemicals. With this, a collection of issues were raised. First, the issue of climate change was discussed. In the discussion, it was noted that chemicals that are released to the atmosphere through a collection of ways create a high level destruction. Many parts of the earth are experiencing climate change due to toxic chemicals depleting the ozone layer at an alarming rate. Secondly, it was noted that chemicals used in industries are transported through inter-government trade which leaves large swathes of land exposed. Many parts of the world have had disasters due to the presence of chemicals in their areas. Unfortunately, most of the chemicals are dumped for some useful gain to a given number of people. Environmental governance was also discussed as an opportunity in maintaining sustainability in the different parts of the world. If there was good governance, then there would be no serious focus on the environment. However, the greatest opportunity came as a result of chemical disposal. This is the most important factor because all processing the production process use chemicals. There are also several limitations to the application of ICM as a principle of sustainable development. First, sufficient knowledge on toxicity has not been found about some chemicals. Particular example is the mercury metal. In the Amazon, not all the mercury mined is not fully understood and therefore may not be part of the solutions that need to be done. Moreover, inter-governmental issues are long and therefore this means that when corruption happens at one point, it will also happen elsewhere. Corruption is so spread in the Annex II countries that that the ICM process has always been hampered. This would lead to highly concentrated areas with fewer populations. Coupled with corruption, it is worth noting that, corruption has led to high losses and lack of accountability on the side of government officials. References Adams, W. M. (2008). Green development: Environment and sustainability in a developing world. New York: Routlege . Adams, W. M. (2009). Green Development: Environment and sustainability in a developing world, 3rd edition. London: Routledge. Agin, D. (2010). More than genes: What Science Can Tell Us about Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ayers, J., & Dodman, D. (2010). Climate change adaptation and development I: the state of the debate. Progress in Development Studies, 10(2), 161-68. Berr, E. (2009). Keynes and sustainable development. International journal of political economy, 38(3), 121. Blaikie, P. (2006). Is Small Really Beautiful? Community-based Natural Resource Management in Malawi and Botswana. World Development, 34(11), 1942-1957. Butler, R. (2012). ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINING IN THE RAINFOREST. [online] Mongabay. Available at: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0808.htm [Accessed 18 Apr. 2015]. Glenn, M. and Danie, B. 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Sea piracy and maritime security in the Horn of Africa: The Somali coast and Gulf of Aden in perspective. African Security Review, 18(3), pp.31-44. Phillips, J. (2010). Evaluating the level and nature of sustainable development for a geothermal power plant. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14(8), 219-230. UNEP. (2013) UNEP Annual Report 2013 - Disasters and Conflicts Unitar, (1997). Planning and Implementing a National Action Programme for Integrated Chemicals Management. [online] Available at: http://www.unitar.org/cwm/publications/current/inp/nap_gd_1997.pdf. [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015]. Unitar, (2004). Developing and Sustaining an Integrated National Programme for Sound Chemicals Management. [online] Available at: http://www.unitar.org/cwm/ptf/Ptf10/PTF_10_4_GD.pdf. [Accessed 17 Apr. 2015]. Wake, B. (2013). Sea-Ice extent: Arctic marine access. Nature Climate change, 3(4), pp.310-310. White, R. (2008). Toxic Cities: Globalizing the Problem of Waste. Environmental Criminology and Ecological Justice, Social Justice Vol. 35, No. 3. Read More