Sustainability and the environment
1. What do the terms ‘sustainable development’, ‘conservation’ and ‘environment’ mean?
2. What are the dimensions of sustainable development?
3. What are some examples of environmental sustainability?
In this week’s lesson, we will focus on sustainable development and the environment. Thus, as is customary, we will focus on a few definitions.
Sustainable development: This involves meeting the needs of today’s population without compromising the needs of future generations. Today, sustainable development is usually considered to include environmental, social and economic sustainability (see definitions below). If development includes social, economic and environmental aspects, then it is considered to be sustainable development.
Conservation: This is the act of preserving and protecting something.
Environment: These are the things that surround you. In geography, when we talk about the environment we normally mean the natural things that surround you, e.g., trees, rivers, mountains and lakes.
ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
This is development that includes everyone, where everyone has the right of economic improvement. The development should be long-term and devoid of corruption and burdening debt. Economic sustainability involves: Access to finance. Removal of debt.
High standards of living. Good quality of life.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
This focuses on improvements in the standard of living that do not cause long-term damage to the environment to impact future generations.
Environmental sustainability involves: Protecting biodiversity.
Stopping climate change caused by man. Elimination of acid rain. Elimination of damage to ozone layer. Reduction of pollution (air, water, noise, etc). Management of resources, e.g., fish, water.
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY INDEX (ESI) AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX (EPI)
The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) was developed by Yale University and was published between 1999 and 2005. It tracked 21 measures of environmental sustainability, including pollution levels and resource management. However, in 2005, it was decided to replace ESI with the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The EPI, rather than comparing sustainability strategies of different countries, looked at outcome-orientated indicators. The EPI places Iceland at the top of its index and Sierra Leone at the bottom.
Social sustainability involves:
Freedom of speech.
Health and safety at work.
Access to clean water and sanitation. Access to needs, i.e., water, food, shelter, clothing. Access to education.
Access to healthcare.
Equality between sexes, religions, etc.
Right to vote.
Access to justice.
Safety – no threat from crime.
Respect of cultures.
SIPADAN MARINE PARK – SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Sipadan is a good example of environmental sustainability. The Amur leopard is a well-funded but possibly fatally delayed conservation method. The bluefin tuna highlights the balance between economic development and environmental sustainability – unfortunately, it would appear that economic development is currently winning out. Finally, Masdar is a sustainable city of the future which will, hopefully, be a blueprint for sustainable development in the future.
Sipadan is a small, oceanic island located in the Celebes Sea off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It was formed by coral growth on the top of an extinct volcano. The island rises 600 metres from the seabed and is at the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. The surrounding ecosystems contain over 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of types of coral. Because of its unique and diverse ecosystem, Sipadan became a popular mecca (an extremely popular destination) for divers – because of its popularity, a number of hotels were built on the island. However, because of this popularity, the island suffered some environmental damage. Noise and light pollution disturbed nesting turtles, and water pollution and litter harmed bird and sea life.
Because of the environmental damage, the Malaysian government decided that it needed to develop the tourism industry around Sipadan more sustainably. In 1993, the island became a bird sanctuary, and in 2004 the government forced the closure of all hotels on the island. A quota was also set on the number of divers allowed to visit Sipadan each day. The total permissible number of divers is 120 a day, with no night diving allowed. Permits to dive have to be applied for in advance. In 2005, the island was proposed as a National Marine Park and the government is now aiming for UNESCO World Heritage status. Research has suggested that the number of turtles has increased since protection measures were put in place.
The development of sustainable tourism on Sipadan is important because:
It will preserve the biodiversity of the island and surrounding ecosystem.
It will create long-term income from tourism. If Sipadan is over-dived or overfished, then its biodiversity and, therefore, attractiveness would be reduced and the number of tourists would decline.
Tourism is a growing industry and without proper management, the island will come under increasing pressure.
It is following international guidelines set out on sustainable tourism at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
THE AMUR LEOPARD
The Amur leopard is one of the rarest animals in the world. It is estimated that only about 30-35 individuals survive in the wild. The Amur leopard is now only found in the mountainous areas of Russia’s far east. The Amur leopard has become threatened because of poaching (hunting), deforestation (habitat loss), inbreeding and development projects like railways and gas/oil pipelines. Another endangered animal, the Siberian tiger is also found in similar locations. Over recent years, 13 international and Russian NGOs have joined to make the Amur leopard and tiger alliance (ALTA). They have developed a comprehensive conservation programme: Anti-poaching methods.
Forest firefighting to reduce habitat loss. Compensation for farmers who have lost livestock. Public-awareness schemes.
Protected areas.
There are also zoo-breeding programmes where there are an estimated 300 Amur leopards. There are plans to try and reintroduce some of these animals to the wild.
MASDAR, UAE
Masdar, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aims to be the world’s leading sustainable city and the first to become carbon neutral. The project started in 2006 and is estimated to cost $22 billion to build and take eight years to complete (although the current financial crisis had pushed phase one completion back to 2015). The city
will cover an area of 6km2 and be home to about 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses. It is estimated that a further 60,000 people will commute to the city daily.
Masdar is aiming to becoming carbon neutral by:
Producing all of its energy through renewable sources (solar, wind, geothermal and hydrogen).
Eliminating waste through recycling. Biological waste will be used as fertiliser. Any waste that cannot be recycled will be incinerated to generate electricity.
Pedestrianising the city and only using public transport within its boundaries. Designing buildings that both maximise natural light and allow air to circulate, reducing lighting and air conditioning.
Educating all citizens every year on sustainability methods. Desalination of water using solar energy, and recycling of grey water for irrigation.