Sustainable Development Analysis Essay Example

co-ordination and the pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social equity, also known as the triple bottom line. Sustainability is a continually evolving process, with technology as the resultant vector. The "journey" towards sustainability is important, but only as a means of reaching the desired future state.

However, sustainability does not have a concrete destination like we typically think of. Instead, it represents a desirable set of qualities for a future system. Green development is often distinguished from sustainable development because it prioritizes environmental sustainability above economic and cultural factors. Advocates of sustainable development argue that it offers a framework for enhancing overall sustainability in situations where advanced green development is not feasible. For instance, a state-of-the-art treatment facility that requires significant maintenance expenses may not be sustainable in regions with limited financial resources.

The sustainability of an environmentally friendly plant that goes bankrupt is considered lower compared to one that can be sustained by the community, even if it is slightly less effective in terms of environmental impact. However, this viewpoint hinges on whether the focus should be on the sustainable development of the plant itself or on the overall human-nature ecology within which the plant exists. As a result, a functioning plant that causes significant pollution may actually be deemed "less sustainable" than not having a plant at all.

Regarding domains related to sustainable development, economics plays a crucial role. However, there has been criticism regarding the three-domain model known as the triple bottom line - economics, environment, and social aspects. This approach has faced opposition because it treats the economy as dominant and separate from societal factors. It also considers environmental concerns solely based

on measurable metrics and views social elements as miscellaneous things that don't fit into economic or environmental categories (refer to section on Economic sustainability below). In contrast, an alternative approach called Circles of Sustainability incorporates economic practices and meanings associated with resource production, utilization, and management. The concept of 'resources' encompasses various aspects within this framework.The definition of 'ecology' presented a challenge as it encompassed both environmental and social aspects. Some research approaches viewed the environment as a combination of nature and culture, while others suggested including culture as its own domain alongside economics and ecology. However, an alternative viewpoint proposed that ecology should be seen as the intersection between the social and environmental realms, allowing culture to be treated separately. To capture the complexity of contemporary society, some argued for adding a fourth dimension called "culture" to the traditional economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable development. The policy statement titled "Culture: Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development" was created by Agenda 21 for Culture and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Executive Bureau. This document was endorsed on November 17th, 2010 during the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders – 3rd World Congress of UCLG in Mexico City. It introduces a new perspective on how culture relates to sustainable development by emphasizing the importance of cultural policies in all public policies. Sustainable development encompasses various political views ranging from weak sustainability to strong sustainability and deep ecology.

There is a strong tension between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism. Various conceptions and definitions of sustainable development coexist. The concept promotes a systems approach to growth and development, emphasizing the management of natural, produced, and social capital

for the welfare of both current and future generations.

Over the past decade, organizations have attempted to measure and monitor proximity to sustainability using sustainability metrics and indices. This has resulted in political debates about the measurement process. Sustainable development is believed to impose limits on developing countries.

Although developed countries have previously heavily polluted during their development, they now advocate for developing countries to reduce pollution, which can hinder their growth. Some argue that adopting sustainable development would require returning to pre-modern lifestyles.

Environmental sustainability involves ensuring that current interactions with the environment are conducted in a way that conserves its natural state as much as possible. It requires society to create activities that meet human needs while also preserving the planet's life support systems indefinitely. This includes practices like sustainable water usage, relying entirely on renewable energy sources, and using eco-friendly materials.

Preserving biomass and biodiversity is crucial for the sustainable harvesting of wood from forests. When natural capital, which refers to nature's resources, is depleted at a faster rate than it can be replenished, unsustainability occurs. To maintain sustainability, it is essential for human activity to use nature's resources in a way that allows for natural renewal. The idea of sustainable development is closely connected to the concept of carrying capacity.

The long-term result of environmental degradation is the potential extinction of humanity worldwide, as it impedes the ability to support human life.

Economic sustainability

In 1987, economist Edward Barbier introduced the idea of sustainable development, which has been represented in different forms like the Venn diagram. However, in 1989, Pearce, Barbier, and Markandya criticized the complexity of combining separate measures for economic, environmental, and

social sustainability.

The Venn approach was criticized for not aligning with the Brundtland Commission Report, which emphasized the interconnectedness between economic development, environmental degradation, and population pressure instead of three separate objectives. Economists have since shifted towards perceiving the economy and the environment as a unified system, employing a consistent valuation methodology (Hamilton 1999, Dasgupta 2007). This approach also incorporates intergenerational equity, a common consideration in economic valuations of climate change economics (Heal 2009). By avoiding discrimination against future generations and considering renewable alternatives to non-renewable resources like petro-chemicals, efficient policies can be developed that promote human welfare while striving toward a sustainable steady state (Ayong le Kama 2001 and Endress et al.).

In 2005, it was determined that the three pillars of sustainable development are interlinkages, intergenerational equity, and dynamic efficiency, as stated by Stavins et al. (2003).