The Needs of the Future Generations and How They are Being Met by the Present Policies - Case Study Example

The needs of future generations are being met by current policies of sustainable development. To what extent do you agree with this ment? Contemporary lifestyles result into climate change, rising social inequality, pollution and depletion of natural resources. The present policies in sustainable are viewed as best way in for solving these issues and can respond to the various needs of the current and future generations. Sustainable development provides for the basic needs of mankind with causing violence to the natural system (White et al., 2013:17). It also offers alternatives to make better decisions about the issues impacting on our daily lives in the short-run. Sustainable development calls for increased awareness in the economic, social and environmental issues. This paper looks into the needs of the future generations and how they are being met by the present policies in sustainable development. It is clear that the needs of the future generations will increase significantly and progress due to the need of individuals to strive to make their lives comfortable at all times. This will result into crisis in future. To start with, the consumption of basic goods such as water, food and electricity will increase drastically and there will be increased demand for these commodities. The demand will progressively exceed the supply and energy costs will skyrocket. It has been noted that the conventional oil production has reached its maximum level (Atkinson, 2009:11). The present use of fossil fuels has resulted into the exhaustion of natural resources, climate change that results from the emission of GHGs (Green house Gases) and increased pollution. Presently, the contemporary lifestyle results into destruction of the ecosystem as well as unsustainable behaviour. It can be argued that the present policies in sustainable development do not meet the needs of the future development. Sustainable development is based on three major pillars that are economic development, environmental development and social development. The UN 2005 World Summit refers to these pillars as co-dependent and mutually support each other towards attaining sustainable development (IPCC, 2007:15). There has been an indigenous disagreement between these pillars in sustainable development in international forums. This is owing to the fact that there are parties that call for the inclusion of cultural diversity among these pillars as an important element in diversity. This goes ahead to prove that the current policies in sustainable development does not meet the needs of the future generations. One of the major factors contributing to the increased strain on natural resources in the present times is the drastic increase in population. Sustainability in development is closely linked to population growth. It can be observed that there are no clear policies addressing the issue of population growth in the current times and this will have a negative impact of the welfare of future generations (Stern, 2007:35). The major area of concern does not simply lie on the global population size. High birth rates are experienced in countries with an immense burden on the natural resources. Nevertheless, sustainable development can be attained more efficiently when the population growth is maintained at a consistent level with the productive capability in the ecosystem. The issue of population is highly sensitive is as it unevenly distributed between the developed and developing countries. The UK projections propose that there will be a decline in the rural population. Approximately, 90% of the population increase will occur in urban areas. This pattern is also observed in the African continent and a in a less way in Asia. The policies in sustainable development have failed to address these concerns (Atkinson, 2009:35). Developing nations are experiencing rapid increases in populations and no relevant policies in sustainable development are being establishing to cope with these changes. This means that the current shortages in sanitation, housing and water are likely to get worse. It has also been observed that a high proportion of city residents live in slums and are increasingly becoming exposed to water pollution, natural hazards and air pollution. With the increased rural-urban migration that is likely to take place in future, the situation will get worse and the sustainable policies have failed to address these issues. Urbanisation is viewed as being an important facet of the development process (Gerst et al., 2010:4540). The major challenge in its sustainable development is to deal with this process in a move to avoid a decline in the quality of life. This calls for the development of regular urban centres in a move to ease the population pressure in major cities. Solving the looming urban crisis will require formulation sustainable development policies that address this issue. This is by emphasising on the role played the informal sector, facilitation of urban and self-help services. The current sustainable development policies have failed to enhance and conserve natural resources for the future generations. For the basic needs of the present and coming generations to be met sustainably, natural resources should be conserved (Gerst et al., 2010:4546). There should be important changes sustainable development policies with regards energy and natural resources consumption. The strain on natural resources worsens where individuals run out of options. Sustainable development policies are required to widen individuals’ alternatives to earn a decent living specifically in areas that have limited resources. For instance, there should be initiatives in developing countries should be establishing to cushion foresters, fishermen and farmers against changes in price. Agriculture is seen as one of the best ways to attain sustainable development in the long-term. It is clear that the current policies in sustainable development have failed to dictate effective use of land and other natural resources. Fishery, forestry and marginal lands have been overexploited while they should be harnessed to meet the needs of future generations. Initiatives should be established to ensure stability in the fishermen and framers income to ensure that they are cushioned against short-term price reductions (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007:44). Conservation of forestry resources, fishery and marginal lands should be undertaken speedily as they have been overexploited in the recent past. This is in a move to meet the needs of the increasing populations. The use of land in forestry and agriculture should be based on a scientific assessment on various factors. These include fish stock, yearly depletion of the top soil as well as forest resources. The sustainability policies have failed to address the increased strain on farming land that is meant for livestock and crop production. However, there are short-term changes that can be made in production towards increasing productivity. Sustainable production in agriculture is based on the regulated use of agrochemicals and water (Nordhaus, 2004:55). Furthermore, it should encourage the extensive application on non-chemicals and organic manures. These options should be promoted by establishing sustainable development policies in the agricultural sector. Sustainable development relies on the availability of natural resources and the capacity of the atmosphere to take up the emissions of the energy consumption. Although policies have been put in place, to deal with reduced emissions more needs to be done to ensure that future generations will have reliable sources of energy (Rogers, 2007:27). However, there no strict policies that have been put in place to ensure energy efficiency. Most industries in the modern world rely on oil which is a non-renewable source of energy. It is clear that there no clearly spelt out policies with regards to the use of non-fuel resources which are also under the risk of exhaustion. Research in the past showed that there would have been an increase in depletion of natural resources that is likely to be experienced in years to come. Although the level of exhaustion of these resources is much lower, there are no proper sustainable policies that govern their conservation. This means that the future generations are less likely to find any of these resources. Reduction and prevention of the various types of pollution remain important in sustainable development. The quality of air and water is under increasing pressure from activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, urban sewage, the use of pesticides and fertilizers. There are expected to increase exponentially in future thereby causing more problems for the biosphere particularly in developing countries (Atkinson, 2009:15). Typically, cleaning up after the pollution is expensive and therefore the entities that result to this problem should be forced to take responsibility for the pollution. Sustainable development policies should be established to ensure that companies clean up after their mess and this will ensure that the environment is preserved for future generations. To sum up, the above essay states that the needs of the future generations are not being met by the current policies in sustainable development (White et al., 2013:23). Additionally, the existing policies are not being effectively implemented resulting to increased pollution and depletion of natural resources. The current lifestyles being led by individuals across the globe are not only careless but also selfish. People should be aware of the fact that the decisions they make in the present times will impact on the needs of future generations in terms of consumption of food, water and electricity. Sustainable development policies should be established and enforced towards ensuring that the needs of future generations will be met. References Atkinson, G., S. Dietz & Neumayer, E. (2009) Handbook of sustainable development, Edward Elgar Publishing. Edwards, A.R. & McKibben, B. (2010) Thriving beyond sustainability: pathways to a resilient society, New Society Publishers. Gerst, R.B. Howarth, L. & Borsuk, M.E. (2010) Accounting for the Risk of Extreme Outcomes in an Integrated Assessment of Climate Change, Energy Policy, vol. 38, pp. 4540-48. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007) Climate change 2007: mitigation of climate change, New York: Cambridge University Press. Nordhaus, W.D. (2004) Managing the global commons: the economics of climate change, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Rogers, P., Jalal, K.F. & Boyd, J.A. (2007) An introduction to sustainable development, Routledge. Stern, N. (2007) The economics of climate change: the stern review, New York: Cambridge University Press. White, F., Stallones, L. & Last, J.M. (2013) Global public health: ecological foundations, Oxford University Press. Read More