The Concept of Sustainable Development - Essay Example

Canada was one of the signatories to the 1997 protocol for stronger greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the year 2000 and beyond. This protocol drafted in Kyoto was a result of a meeting held to review the progress of the Rio Convention. Many countries did not sign this agreement, significantly the USA. At the moment of writing this report, another convention is being held in Bali, with greenhouse gas emissions forming a part of the agenda. Transportation, which accounts for more than a quarter of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, will be an important component of Canada's long-term, multi-faceted climate-change strategy.

The federal government is considering options for more sustainable transportation and working with industry to develop improved vehicle technologies and alternative transportation fuels. Currently, rail is generally accepted as the most sustainable form of mass transport in the UK [1 and any movement of passengers from less sustainable modes onto the rail system is therefore a net benefit to the UK. Indeed over the past 10 years rail passenger and freight kilometers have both increased by more than 40%.

These increases have been achieved with proportionately low levels of additional resources, and hence have significantly enhanced rail's sustainability position [2]. This report attempts to analyze the perf. s a much diversified company, with interests in many spheres, Railpower is confined to the area of development of hybrid rolling stock for the railways across the world. The current market scenario is discussed in light of the historical background and projected performances, corporate strategies, and impacts of the rise in fuel prices, changes in interest rates, the overall Canadian economy, and the global milieu in which these Companies operate. 2.0 Market Analysis (Part - A) The United States is the largest economy in the world and any changes there will be reverberated in all major economies - note the recent drastic slump in the world's stock markets.

Six months into the most serious financial crisis which originated with subprime mortgages has laid the American economy low by a debilitating credit crunch. The situation has been aggravated due to the phenomenal rise in world fuel prices, and the other major economies have had to bail out the US from the present crisis (Lynch, 2007). Rogoff (2007), on the other hand, warns "If it is a steep downturn, it's going to pull everyone into its vortex." The Canadian economy, specifically, is largely dependent upon its largest trading partner - the US; and is thus most exposed to turndown in the US economy.

However, the effects of the struggling US economy have not been felt so far in 2007. If the United States manages to avoid a recession in 2008 one can be reasonably optimistic about global prospects. But with U.S. growth in the final quarter of this year expected to be very poor (Lynch, 2007), oil prices hovering above $80 a barrel and resurgent inflation in developed and developing economies alike, there are plenty of reasons to believe that the worst is yet to come.