The Enormous Global Problem of Environmental Degradation

Environmental degradation is an enormous problem that is affecting every corner of the globe. World leaders have banned together to debate and decide on effective strategies for achieving a sustainable lifestyle. With varying interests and opinions from numerous countries and regions, discussions are extremely complex and progress is oftentimes slow. In the book, Equity and Sustainable Development: Reflections from the U.S.- Mexico Border, Jane Clough-Riquelme and Nora Bringas Rábago attempt to portray the implications that the 2002 World Summit may have on the issues of equity and sustainable development in the U.S.- Mexico border region. This area serves as an excellent example because the two subnational regions are in the industrial and developing world stages where problems reflect the current economic paradigm and the common obstacles to achieving a sustainable development.

It wasn’t until 1972 that the world’s leaders seriously discussed the correlation between prevailing economic models of industrial expansion, reduction of the world’s natural resources, and the health and well being of humanity. Ten years later, the United Nations finally assembled in order to decide what actions could be taken to make economic development compatible with protecting of the environment and improved quality of life worldwide. The result was the creation of the World Commission on Environment and Development 1987, which provided a framework for sustainable development. In the following years, two global environmental summits have taken place in an effort to intertwine the three pillars of the sustainable development: economic prosperity, environmental protection, and social equity. These two summits included the Rio Summit in 1992 and the...

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...ls are still yet to be accomplished. The first step to solving a dilemma is recognizing that there is a problem. With this said, the world has taken the initiative to realize its problems and has started to implement solutions. For example, one of the goals set at the Johannesburg Summit was the development of a set of precise goals to reduce world poverty by half within the next decade. This goal set the bar extremely high and only time will tell if the world is able to come together to achieve its objective. As always, the future remains unclear. As someone who as taken an interest in sustainable development, it is clear to see how essential sustainability is, however, many people still do not understand the severity of the issue. For the sake of future generations, I hope the current generations are able to get a handle of sustainability before it is too late.