In this assignment the author shall discuss the relative extent to which creating sustainable development policies and concepts protect the environment from degradation. We shall critically examine the different approaches to the paradigm, such as UN summits to National policies and also by analysing the different forms of sustainability, and briefly the vagueness and hypocrisies of the term. In addition, we must look at the process of generating these policies and to what extent do they come to fruition. An important question is whether because of the sheer number of stakeholders, (for example countries in the UN or TNCs) that are a part of the process of creating sustainable development plans hinder any large scale change to current environmental policy.
The global environmental debate is a mixture of anxiety over the capacity of the planet to absorb changes wrought by human activity, and concern for the people of the future, whose plight will by no means be their choosing. The paradigm of sustainable develop has since been born out of such debate and in turn, played a major role in world, national and local politics.
Blowers et al (1996) postulates that amongst the general public there is a strong feeling that human activity will not only degrade the physical environment itself but will also ultimately threaten the world’s population. This sense of unease promotes the reasoning that we have an untenable relationship with the environment. It is therefore a necessity to re-mould and create a tenable and sustainable relationship. There are several means in which this may be achieved; the degree of success however, is questionable.
O’Riordan (2000) states that many of the most pressing challenges facing today’s environment ar...
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...tional political agenda. Global institutions such as the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) have helped drive the debate down to national and sub-national levels. Perhaps at these lower levels sustainability can be implemented more successfully, for example an individual having a sustainable lifestyle. However, at the global scale there are so many stakeholders involved in meetings such as UN Word Summits outcomes produced rarely include new solid sustainable development polices. Instead flimsy agreements in regards to emission cuts are produced and are often not met by the countries concerned. Under this premise large scale change to current policies on sustainability are unlikely at a global scale, only a complete unity of thinking would produce proper sustainable development policy, in turn preventing the environment from future large scale degradation.
Schmandt, Jurgen, and Ward, C.H. eds. Sustainable Development: The Challenge of Transition. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Humans have become a threat to our own way of life by consuming more resources than needed, blind to the consequences that we may face in the future. As of 2016 the world population is at 7.4 billion and it is estimated to be at 11.2 billion by the year 2100. However 10 billion is the maximum population that can be sustained in terms of food security, only one of the many factors to global sustainability. Due to the fact that human consumption exceeds the amount of resources available, the United Nations “recognizes that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge” in A/RES/70/1. Sustainable development is not only required to fulfill the necessities of the present but to guarantee the capability for future generations to satisfy theirs.
According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. If we follow this definition, it becomes easy to see that the vast majority of the “developed” world has not, and is not developing sustainably. The idea of sustainable development requires us to consider how our action of developing will affect other countries, and future generations. Many people believe in “the butterfly effect”, where the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one part of t...
The concept of sustainable development was introduced by Brundtland Report in 1987 (Williams, Wilmshurst, & Clift, 2011) while emphasizing our common future that recognize to protect the earth to save the humanity from manmade destructive activities(Krechovska & ProchazKova, 2014). With the aim of achieving so forth goal, sustainable development has given importance on the three fundamental components such as economic growth, environmental protection and social equity (Williams, Wilmshurst, & Clift, 2011). According to the world summit on sustainable development (WSSD, Johannesburg, 2002), sustainable development should be an optimal goal for the institutions at the national, regional and international stages and three important elements of socio-economic dimensions such as economic development, social development and
The topic however, has been discussed by O’Connor (2006) who has proposed a “Four Spheres” framework for sustainability. He argues that the respect of the triple bottom line model requires the simultaneous satisfaction of targets of both economy, society and environment, which is not always easy to accomplish. Conflicts and incompatibility could emerge when decisions are to be made. The need for resolution brings to theorize a fourth sphere, the political sphere, which will act like an arbiter between the three pillars’ claims and principles. The author suggests that the governance sphere should be based on institutional arrangements. However, the study seems to be a theoretical structure without enough pragmatism, which makes it difficult to apply to
Sustainability is a concept with a diverse array of meanings and definitions – a widely used glamorous, ambiguous, ambivalent and vague concept that is used by different stakeholder groups in various ways. Presumably to avoid noodling over a terminology or to avoid the confrontation with a definition, most widely the concept is broken down a planning process (c.f. e.g. Döring & Muraca, 2010). That is why most common sustainability is understood as sustainable development.1
[WCED] World Commission on Environment and Development. 1987. Our common future. New York: Oxford University Press. 444p.
The most universally accepted definition of sustainability, emanated from a 1987 report by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (UNCED). Sustainability was defined as a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is a known fact that humans are undermining their own survival on a robust and unforgiving planet and this seems to be falling on deaf ears (O 'Riordan, 2004). The remarkable growth of the world population in recent decades has led to a number of serious environmental problems. Heavy consumption which is an associated problem to the increased disposal of solid waste have jointly contributed to the depletion of our
Sustainable development defined by Sustainable Development Measurement index (N.d.) as “sustainable development refers to social, economic, and environmental development that meets the needs of current society without compromising or limiting future development and growth” (Cantor, 2001). In short, the theoretical approach on sustainability contains three essential elements, which are social, economic and environmental development. In order to achieve sustainable development, nations are needed to balance between the economic development, environmental protection and social consensus. However, in recent years, numerous ecological damages brought by economic and industrial activities and led to disputes among the society. The growth of the human
Quite often, these two sides appear to face each other with opposing prescriptions for future world development. The former argues for environmental protection and creation of a stable ecosystem; the latter supports jobs and increased development of Third World countries. Yet this false dichotomy between jobs and the environment need not exist. The key is promotion of worldwide sustainable development, or development that “meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations,” as defined by the Worl...
After going through a careful consideration of my familiarity with a number of multinational corporations that I selected earlier, I chose Henkel (Henkel AG & Company, KGaA), a manufacturing company headquartered in Germany, to be the corporation that I am going to analyze in depth. Size wise, “the company has some 47,000 employees worldwide and counts among the most internationally aligned German-based companies in the global marketplace.” (Henkel, 2014) Aside from having a broad employee base and solidly built financial resources, it also has branches scattered all over the world, including Hong Kong. Business wise, Henkel chiefly runs in three areas. They are household products, personal care products, adhesives that can be found easily at any local supermarket or grocery store.
The concept of living within the ecological boundaries of the Earth means that we have to use natural resources in a sustainable way, this means that these resources should not be used to the point where their threshold is exceeded and they become depleted. Although this is the case, we also have to look at this from a social point of view. We cannot live within our ecological boundaries if the world’s population is living under the social foundation. In other words, we need to use the world’s resources in a way that they are sustained, while still providing the world’s population with basic living needs, this is essentially sustainable development (Raworth, 2012). Sustainable development is an attempt to combine environmental issues with socio-economic issues (Hopwood et al., 2005), this therefore encompasses the ideas of ecological boundaries and a solid social foundation.
Sustainability simply defined to me as balancing act between the development of sustainability is necessary for both planet Earth and humans to survive. This is reinforced in the World Commission on Environment and Development report (1987) that sustainable development must meet the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generations”. The Earth Charter Organization widened the idea of sustainability to respect for a culture of peace, universal human rights, nature, and economic justice (What is sustainability?, n.d.).
Oelofse. C. 2001. Sustainable Development: Theoretical and conceptual issues, LA 21 Training Programme. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Natal, Durban
Over the past few decades there have been discourses both in favor and against Globalization’s capacity to guarantee a sustainable future. Authors attest societies and businesses’ inability to account for ecological and environmental limits when dealing with economic growth, examples of this are some of the traditional business metrics used by most global companies, and nations’ measure of wealth (GDP); both sides heavily resting on economic factors, fail to account for societal and environmental concerns (Byrnea & Gloverb, 2002). Other researchers point at the intensive use of resources, especially by global corporations; such as the increasing and careless consumption of fossil fuels, water, precious metals, etc. leading to a rise in GHG (Starke, 2002) (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 2000). Most fervent opponents go as far as to call ‘sustainable development’ an oxymoron (Ayres, 1995).