Sustainable Development and The Political Context - Essay Example

 Sustainable Development and the Political Context Introduction Sustainable development has evolved over the years, taking into account the diversity and dynamism of the society. The society is always changing, given the cultural, social, economic, environmental and political aspects. Environmental aspects of the dynamism of the society have taken centre stage in the matter. However, in the recent times, this scenario has taken another direction that seeks to incorporate other considerations into the context of sustainable development. Human activity has for a long time been considered the stumbling block towards achieving sustainable development. In the recent past however, the need to accommodate other contributing factors has come up. Sustainable development has therefore been integrated into the social sphere, taking into account all social dimensions that are directly or indirectly linked to sustainable development. This process can be described as a notion of socially sustainable development through the participation of the society in determining its success or failure. It therefore links the social, economic and political scenario in evaluating the functionality of the entire process. The evaluation and analysis of the presence or absence of sustainable development is ambiguous, due to the fact that different people, organizations and governing define and view the process in different ways. Participatory economic have as a result become a fundamental criterion through which the balance of this issues can be achieved. The incorporation of a governing body that is relatively characterized by challenges between the governing party and the opposition party lays down proper tools for the evaluation of such a process. However, it is important to note that the integration of politics into development affairs is not proof of the presence of sustainable development. In this regard, this paper seeks to define the relationship characteristic of sustainable development and politics. It will further outline the challenges evident in the process, while taking into account the needs of the present population as well as that of the future. Sustainable Development: Definition and Scope Times to time transformations of the land scape are attributed to the major Industrial Revolution of the world. Small towns have fully grown into cities and states with time, and so has the population (Williams & Millington, 2004). In the process, sustainable development in the environmental context was perceived to be taking the opposite direction. Technological progress associated with economic growth was also linked to negatively affect the environment during the Industrialization process. The need to consider environmental welfare in the analysis of sustainable development is important since it is the basis of any progress that is characteristic of the society. All human activities are basically directly linked to the environment. With deteriorating environmental welfare, the overall sustainable development tends to move towards collapsing. This therefore means that the environment is the stronghold of sustainable development. However, many activities in that context need to be controlled and regulated. In so doing, the society, economy and governance become equally important (Williams & Millington, 2004). The term sustainable development takes different definitions, given the diversity and variations across human race associated with the context under which such the development is pursued. In the simple terms, sustainable development can be defined as the ability of a development process to meet present needs of the population or society, without potentially making the future generations worse off. It can therefore be termed as a process that seeks to make the current society better off without comprising the needs of the future generations. The future generations are expected to be in a position to meet their needs, owing to the current development processes. Sustainable development is therefore a way of ensuring development lasts over a long period of time, and for each period that comes and goes; the benefits of the society from the said development are only made better and better (Mebratu, 1998). In order to achieve the above, different mechanisms are integrated into the system. The most fundamental aspect of consideration in this case is the political influence on the matters of sustainable development. Policies need to be formulated and implemented for this whole process to be initiated and to further make it operational. Political divergences are critical to analyse since all the parties bound to the governance of any given society must come into a consensus before important measures to oversee development are pursued. This further integrates the entire society into the dealings of developmental procedures. This follows the fact that the already governing body seeks to pursue the needs of the society. Political opposition parties on the other hand monitor the activities of the ruling party in order to report cases of unaccountability in governance (Clark, 2000). The political aspect in the pursuit of sustainable development is therefore a critical and fundamental casing point in social, economic and environmental aspects. Societal Context of Sustainable Development The link between social, economic and environmental welfare is solely based on the interests of the society. Populations across the globe vary in accordance to social, economic and environmental wellbeing. These variations are based on differences that are characteristic of these populations, right from political to developmental divergences. The diversity of these societies makes the approaches towards development scenarios different from one region to another. On the same note, different countries rate differently in terms of general development, whether sustainable or not. Some countries are developed while are still in their development process. This makes the approach towards sustainable development different, given such achievements already in place. Environmental degradation is also different across societies. This is a critical issue because environmental welfare of any given nation actually helps in assessing how functional sustainable development policies will get. As much as environmental welfare accounts for sustainable development, social and economic development are not determined solely by the level of environmental welfare (Naess, 2003). The two are standalone points of developments that are pursued differently, with diverse policies used in their context. However, the effects of political scenarios on the two are as much affected as those of the environment. In fact, protection of the environment seems to compete with social and economic development. This is because, many of the actions taken by the society in a bid to better its condition and that of its expected future generation only tends to make the environment worse off. However, as much as the environment tends to compete with such developments, a balance must be maintained for efficient functionality of both the society and the economy. Political context in this case becomes important since most of the development decisions require intensive deliberation and discussions that in most cases turn out to be political due to diverse interests and motives of the concerns groups and parties. The Political Context of Sustainable Development The political arena is a critical determinant of sustainable development in any given country. Development projects face resistance and sometimes frustrations resulting from divergent political interests, motives and purposes as already pointed out earlier. Political concerns on matters of sustainable development emerge as a result of lack of specific definition of the term sustainable development. In this regard, the interpretation of different political parties on the meaning of sustainable development results to the differences encountered when addressing the matter politically (Blewitt, 2008). However, it is important to note that inadequacy in definition of sustainable development is not the sole cause of alarm in political dealings of the said development. Political interests and motives are incorporated in national matters of any given country. The end result of this is diverged discussions as to what should be pursued in regard to development that is properly tailored to meet the needs of the current and future societies. In sustainable development debates, two competing notion are presented. These are growth and development of the economy and ecological integrity. Political debates on sustainable development are purely based on the meaning of sustainable development. While other political parties argue that sustainable development is suitable for the general welfare of an economy, others argue that the same sustainable development lacks policy objective, due to the ambiguity associated with its meaning. Those against sustainable development claim that the policy objective of such development would only be available if the meaning of the term is clarified. In the meantime such opposing parties hold on to the point that it is not possible to establish a policy objective under this subject. The need to pursue sustainable development cannot be refuted. Even political errands who pose against this fact many at times base their arguments on little or no evidence. The essence of sustainable development is to strike a balance between social and economic growth and protection of the environment in order to obtain the sustainability part of development. Conceptual difficulties characterize this process, and at times it is hard to strike the said balance between the identified variables. The politics of sustainability seeks to define what is that that should be sustained for generations to come. In a bid to answer this question, the entire governance system plays an important role. Economics must be integrated into the process due to the technicalities of money and capital requirements. Any development procedure must be time sensitive and at the same time it makes use of allocated funds from the economy (Blewitt, 2008). Basically, the general political aspect of any given country is critical to any development that may be termed sustainable. The political aspect of a sustainable development first identifies the pillars of such a development process. It then outlines procedures to follow, outlining the requirements at each stage, and also pointing out the problems or challenges that emerge from the political arena to directly affect the development process. The pillars of sustainable development as outlined by the political models of different countries are given below: From the pillars identified above, it is clear that the political system of any given country is characteristic of any sustainable development model adopted by that country. Political problems that consequently affect sustainable development cuts across the three main pillars presented above. Social justice outlines the legal frames under which sustainable development takes place (McGregor, 2004). The political system in place observes the same rules and regulations that govern undertaking of such development process. It is important to note that the legal frameworks adopted for these purposes are not short lived but rather long term in nature. So in essence, the legal framework under which development is undertaken takes into account both current and future generations. On the same note, it is important to note that the political context of any given nation plays an important role in designing the social justice systems for the society. If the social justice systems in place do not account for sustainable development, the political system is to blame by greater margin. By definition, the social justice is characteristic of development. If such development is not pursued, then a conflict of interest arises. This is due to the fact that on side, the system should meet the objectives for which it is developed. If it does not, then conflicts are bound to arise. The social expectations of such a system are to meet their demands and actually put into place all the variables, processes and activities outlined by it. Social participation and activity coordination should be integrated into the context of sustainable development, alongside the role that politics play in the same process (Robinson, 2004). Ecological balance is another concept fundamental to development that is sustainable by nature. As earlier pointed out, ecological welfare determines the extent to which development can be sustained. Development is seen to compete with the environmental welfare, making it hard to determine which between the two is important than the other. The basic argument here is that no matter what is chosen of the two, the future generation must be accounted for. The extent to which ecological balance has been achieved denotes the efficiency of managing the ecosystem using the available resources. The social, economic and capacity is therefore put into focus. The political dimension in this case is analysed based on its role in influencing environmental issues. A political undertaking that is environmental friendly accounts for the ecosystem of the place it operates from both positive and negative sides of the issue. The ultimate goal of sustainable development is to achieve self-reliance. The society is expected to be in a position to meet its current needs, and further make it easier for future generations to do the same with little or no difficulty. Self-reliance encompasses balanced growth, fair trade, equity and cooperation (Wissenburg, 2001). Political dimension takes centre stage in this, since it is directly linked to the society. Although the political system may at some point challenge that the society that has put in place, the system should adjust its rigidities with those of the people and the entire economic system in order to maintain coherence among all the variables that affect and influence self-reliance in the context of sustainable development. In the middle of the pillars, a factor of cultural identity is identified. This provides in interrelationship among all other pillars, in a bid to define the relationship of pillar with the other, as well as outline the understanding of sustainable development from each pillar. A political system that is tailored towards engaging the participation of citizens in effective development decision making is what sustainable development requires (Sustainable Development Commission, 2011). Social, economic and environmental solutions should be based on strong democracy. Traditional political paradigms had no integration of democracy and sustainable development. In the contemporary world, intergenerational equity is purely based on political grounds. The idea of having the society define its own basic needs incorporates the society into the development process, but many at times the cries of the society are less focussed on by the political system. Rather, the political system may be down to initiate programs that it feels are better, even when the views of the society and the larger economy are ignored (Blewitt, 2008). From the discussion above, political impediments to sustainable development can be summarized as follows: Divergent political interests and motives among key players. Lack of proper policies in place to govern and direct sustained development under the political context. Ignorance of the society to matters that directly affect their wellbeing. Political illusion of the entire society, based on misconceptions of representation and governance. Failure to fully integrate the social justice system into the sustainable development agenda. Preference to make the current situation better by taking advantage of the future. Long political debates that yield less at the end of the day, thereby achieving limited progress in development matters. Lack of adequate resources and means to account for current economic difficulties in relation to the future Globalization that seeks to convert the world into a global village; uniform achievement of sustainable development becomes hard to deal with. Environmental hardships resulting from pollution. Increasing cost of living caused by inflationary activities in the economy. Conclusion Three distinct factors impacted upon by the political context in sustainable development are identified. These are social, economic and environmental factors. The interaction of three factors given the interests and motives of the political system determines the level of sustainable development achieved over time. References Blewitt, J. (2008. Understanding Sustainable Development. London: Earthscan. Clark, J. (2000). ‘How Wide is Deep Ecology?’ in Beneath the Surface: Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Deep Ecology. California: Cengage Learning. Diesendorf, M. (1997) 'Principles of Ecological Sustainability', in Human Ecology, Human Economy, eds. M Diesendorf & C Hamilton. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Handmer, J. & Dovers, S. (1996) 'A Typology of Resilience: Rethinking Institutions for Sustainable Development', Industrial and Environmental Crisis Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 4. McGregor, A. (2004). 'Sustainable Development and 'Warm Fuzzy Feelings': Discourse and Nature Within Australian Environmental Imaginaries', Geoforum, vol. 35, no. 5. Mebratu, D. 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