Environmental Sustainability - Essay Example

Environmental sustainability Opportunities and constraints related to policy implementation for sustainable development including policy responses Sustainable development entails masking sure that people throughout the globe can meet their basic needs currently, whilst ensuring that the future generations may also look forward to the same quality of life. Sustainable development has three main pillars; these are the environment, economy and the society. There are several enabling conditions for policy implementation. One opportunity is the effective enforcement of legislation. Weak law enforcement lowers long term investor and market confidence for most business to develop. The shift of government expenditure from activities that degrade or overuse environmental resources is an enabling condition for policy implementation. Additionally, moving science, research, educational and training precedence is an opportunity to support policy implementation of a green economy. New knowledge is essential for government policy makers, workers, professionals and the community. Another opportunity for policy implementation is the resource and land rights that preserve the interests of those with informal rights. The reason is that most governments favor mighty actors who are in a position to claim rights, and underline practical efficiency of resources allotment, ignoring other people who have special dependence on the resource in question. This is particularly decisive for guaranteeing rights to water and traditional lands (Harris, 2003, p 12). Creation of enabling situation for behavior and psychological change offers an opportunity for policy implementation. This entails framing environmental sustainability as a social objective, reducing choices towards greener methodologies, as well as, creating information to match with stakeholder approaches to learning. Finally, easing business to completely incorporate sustainability and equity concerns is another opportunity for implementing policy for sustainable development. This arises through provision of information and synchronizing research on latent opportunities, particularly to embrace the best available technologies and meet principles that enable technology access. Easing business also involves trade barrier reduction where possible, offering finances and public private partnerships that carve up perils and cover upfront overheads, as well as, enhancing accountability. However, some of the noteworthy constraints include local community attitudes and reluctance to accept some policies aimed at environmental sustainability. Conflicts may arise in relation to implementation of sustainable development in a certain sector or area, since it is intricate to gratify all stakeholders’ needs and desires. Institutional barriers also constrain the implementation of sustainable development. Institutional barriers take the form of non-interaction between policy makers and the affected stakeholders. Another constraint is the legislative constraints such as uncertainty regarding the use of planning mechanisms. Lack of funding (high cost barrier) constrains implementation of sustainable development. High initial expenses for transition for green growth appear out of reach for many nations. For instance, emerging economies still grapple with the aspect of solar power for rural communities as it is costly for them. Up to date, some nations are still struggling with basic technologies like wastewater treatment, assimilated water resource management and energy efficiency (Harris, 2003, 16). Main issues relating to sustainability and sustainable development The world commission on environmental and development identify three main aspects that relate sustainable development. These are economic, social and environmental issues. Economic An economically sustainable system has to produce products and services on a long term basis, maintain manageable levels of government and sterna debt, as well as, shun extreme sectoral imbalances that hamper industrial and agricultural production. Economic sustainability necessitates that the varying types of capital that make economic production possible have to be upheld and improved. These are natural capital, manufactured capital, social capital and human capital. The maintenance of the four types is vital in the fact that they complement each other, even if substitutability may be possible. Economists assert that sustainability entails human welfare over time, which is the maximization of utility gained from consumption. Efficient resource distribution must have the effect of maximizing utility from consumption. A connected issue relates to the notion of natural assets. Soils and its function are elements of natural wealth that comprise of all natural resources and environmental services of the planet. Neo-classical economists assert that there is no need to preserve natural capital, provided that the rents from these resources are reinvested in reproducible capital. This assertion assumes substitutability of capital. Environmental An environmentally sustainable arrangement has to maintain a stable resource base, avoid over exploitation o natural and renewable resources, and exhausting non renewable resources strictly to the degree that investment is made in sufficient substitutes. Conservation of ecosystems and natural resources is significant for sustainable economic production. An ecological viewpoint necessitates that both humankind population and total resource demand have to be limited in scale and the veracity of ecosystems and species diversity has to be upheld. Market apparatuses usually do not function efficiently to conserve this natural capital, but tend to degrade and deplete it. Unlike economists who offer no upper limit on economic growth, ecologists use limits on resilience and sustainability of ecosystems. Two essential maxims of ecological biology are that organisms are enthusiastically over productive, and that limits set by time, energy and space are usually encountered. Ecological perspective sustainability has to involve limits on populace and consumption levels. Genetic diversity brings forth resilience in ecosystems. This implies the bounce back capability that allows a system to react to disturbances or damage, for instance, a forest ecosystem may recover from pest infestation through an increase in the predators’ populace that manage the pest, development of pest resistance in affected species, or expansion of species unaffected by the pest. Sustainability for an ecologist has to be defined in terms of ecosystem resilience maintenance. Social A socially sustainable scheme should attain fairness in distribution and opportunity, sufficient provision of social services that entail education and health, gender impartiality, as well as political participation and accountability. The fulfillment of basic education and health needs, social equity and participatory democracy are essential features of development, and are interconnected with environmental sustainability. Proponents of sustainable development acknowledge social element of development as a significant part of environmental sustainability and development. The main focus for United Nations development program on human development has been on basic needs and fairness, democratic governance, gender discrimination and poverty. Injustice and poverty are interconnected with environmental sustainability. Increased poverty and loss of rural livelihoods hastens environmental degradation as displaced persons exert pressure on the ecosystems. Different approaches to sustainability, causes of concern and the proactive methods and mechanisms needed to address them Almost all definitions on sustainability are based on intergenerational and intragenerational fairness. Intergenerational fairness entails meting the present needs without comprising the capability of future generations to meet their needs. Intragenerational fairness holds that people should be responsible for the well being of their generations, if they feel accountable for the welfare of their descendants. The aspect of natural capital maintenance is discussed under different approaches to sustainability. These are; very strong, strong, critical, weak and very weak sustainability. Very weak sustainability necessitates that the yearly national product ought not to diminish over time. It also requires that the examined whole aggregate (natural and man-made) capital stock is to remain steady over time. The assumption made is that there is perfect substitutability between natural and human capital. Advocates of critical weak, or quasi sustainability assert that weak sustainability assumes the verity that man-made and natural capital are not complete substitutes, but can replace each other to a limited degree. The use of critical natural capital denotes confines of substitutability. Critical sustainability advocates hold that natural capital is not only inputs of natural capita, but also a prerequisite for human life, and thus any economic (Lerch & Nutzinger, 2002, p 3). Critical sustainability however, permits degradation of the natural capital above the safe minimum principles, as long as it is compensated by a matching augmentation of other forms of resources. In the perspective of strong sustainability, critical sustainability would be less adequate, and thus impermissible. Resulting from the uncertain knowledge on the true working of the multifaceted ecological systems, the irreversibility of human interferences into ecological systems, and the defective ways of examining natural capital accurately, natural capital is to remain steady over time and has to be measured by proper physical indicators. The aspect of very strong sustainability necessitates boundaries for the whole scale of economic tasks, eventually taking into consideration the economic system as a subsystem of the ecological system. Several rules are needed to proactively address the concerns of the different approaches to sustainability. Rule one is sustainable yield, where the rate of exploitation of renewable resources should not exceed the regeneration rate. Rule two is the sustainable disposal of waste. Pollutant emissions should not exceed the assimilative capability of the environment. Rule three is on quasi sustainability, which requires that extraction of exhaustible resources has to be paid off. The other mechanism is the financing rule that requires royalties paid from application of exhaustible resources has to be invested for the growth of substitute technologies (Lerch & Nutzinger, 2002, p 5). The key environmental issues of relevance to planners and other natural and built environment professions and the ethical and practical dilemmas they pose In the recent years, the growth of urban centers has become key environmental concern for planners. Increase in urban centers pose practical and ethical dilemmas with regards to the environment. The increase in urban centers is a significant cause of deforestation. Transportation issues also pose an environmental concern in urban centers resulting from the increase in automobile population and traffic congestion. Changes in processes of production are augmenting to motor vehicle traffic as more industries move to just- in time deliveries that favor transport trucks instead of fuel efficient trains. Additionally, urban planning approaches tend to promote use of cars by favoring more roads over urban designs that promote transit. Urban centers are faced with infrastructure deficits in drinking water and sewerage systems. Deteriorating infrastructure pose the practical dilemma of loss of potable water, substandard sewage treatment, inefficient transit system and congested roads (Tomalty, 2005, p 10). Air quality in terms of ozone particulates and lethal contaminants remain a key environmental issue in urban centers. The rise in ambient particles in urban centers poses a health menace, resulting in 5000 immature deaths annually from air pollution. Poor air quality and air pollution in urban centers also results in economic costs for communities. Climate change and energy changes will largely affect the urban centers, as urban centers are accountable for green house emissions from industries, buildings and transportation. Increase in fuel consumption for urban transportation results in greater impacts on the environment and the mankind health. Urban centers mostly rely on non renewable energy sources that have extensive environmental impacts. Consumption and solid waste is another environmental concern resulting from resource use and waste. Most products going to landfills do not easily decompose or decompose substances that leach the soil and pollute groundwater. Most landfills in urban centers are almost exhausted. For instance, Canada is among the largest solid waste producer in the globe, and only 25 percent of this waste is reused. Another key issue in urban centers is lack of natural areas. Most urban centers do not have green spaces, and the remaining urban forests are under strain as a result of development and poor growing state of affairs within cities. Development activates and poor rainwater treatment has resulted in erosion of urban rivers and lakes shorelines. Wetlands have disappeared as they have frequently been converted to urban and other uses (Tomalty, 2005, p 12). The connection between sustainability and a range of land use and resource issues Land use highlights the management of ecosystems by mankind in order to attain some of human needs. Land use policies therefore entail land administration, cadastral systems and land planning. Cadastral systems correspond to the implementation of state control over land. Land planning entails the notion of a stratagem in planning infrastructures like roads to orient the occupation and use of that will be made of the land. Land use policies are also concerned with the resources related to land, and with user practices to mobilize this resources. Land use policies present specific challenges in developing countries because natural resources are especially susceptible to varying climatic conditions. Governance presents another challenge as since the states are weak and are often confronted by global organizations and complex decentralization processes. Another challenge for land use policies is because land and natural resources is a subsistence aspect for the majority of the populace, in order that the traditional rights of ownership are essentially significant (McNeill, Nesheim & Brouwer, 2012, p 249). Land use policies have the potential to influence who can use natural resources, and the manner and degree of exploitation. Governance and relation to land strongly influence the impact of land use policies on sustainable development. High population growth and increasing monetary needs makes land a coveted issue, resulting in several phenomena like overexploitation. In some parts of the globe, land is more than geographical space. It takes the form of sacred connotation, with varying ways of defining regions and the use that may be made by each one. The global approach to land administration has four main tenets; land tenure, land value, land use policies and land development. Land tenure is the allocation and security of land rights. Land value is the examination of the value of land and properties. Land use entails the control of land use through adoption of planning policies and land use regulations at local, national and regional levels. Land development entails building of new infrastructure. The four aspects are directly related. The physical use of land and properties influences the value of the land. Land value is also determined the probable future use of land as established through zoning and land use planning rules. Land use planning and policies will establish and regulate the future of land development. Land information infrastructure is the fundamental element satisfying the information needs on land tenure, land use, land value and land development (Mukupa, 2011, p 13). Current topical sustainability debates The current topics on sustainability seek to address all the social, economic, technological and institutional elements related to the challenge of environmental sustainability. They topic include climate, which covers the aspects climate risk management and climate change. Human settlement and industrial systems theme covers urbanization, cities and transport. Energy systems topic addresses energy efficiency, renewable energy and bioenergy. Terrestrial systems focus on biodiversity, food systems and ecosystem services. Aquatic systems topic covers on fresh water and marine (Harris, 2003, p 4) Bibliography Harris, M. J. (2003) Sustainability And Sustainable Development. Accessed on 12 February 2013 from: http://isecoeco.org/pdf/susdev.pdf Lerch, A. & Nutzinger, G.H. (2002) sustainability: economic approaches and ethical implications. Journal of economic and social policy. 6(2), 1-8. http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=jesp McNeill, D., Nesheim, I. & Brouwer, F. (2012). Land Use Policies for Sustainable Development: Exploring Integrated Assessment Approaches. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Mukupa, W. (2011) Land Administration To Support Sustainable Development. Land Tenure In Africa. Accessed on 12 February 2013 from: http://www.fig.net/pub/fig2011/papers/ts05f/ts05f_mukupa_5191.pdf Tomalty, R. (2005) Urban Environmental Issues. Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network. Accessed on 12 February 2013 from: http://www.cegn.org/english/home/documents/urbanbrief_eng.pdf Read More