DELINEATE THE SALIENT FEATURES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable Development Goals

What is the sustainable development?

The sustainable development is characterized as "the improvement that addresses the issues of the present without negotiating the capacity of people in the future to address their own issues." The idea of requirements goes past essentially material needs and incorporates values, connections, opportunity to think, act, and take an interest, all adding up to economical living, ethically, and spiritually (Shah, 2008).

Principle of sustainable development

The principle of sustainable development has evolved on the basic assumption of co-existence of two apparently conflicting notions i.e. development and environment. But from the practical point of view, ecological, economic and social aspects of sustainability are inseparable. As William Rees has rightly pointed out that maintenance of ecological integrity has to be accorded primacy over achievement of socio-economic human needs, thus there should be a convergence between ecological and economic factors in the developmental process.

The principle of sustainable development emphasizes on two basic needs, firstly, need for socio-economic development and secondly, need of limitation imposed on the environment's capability to cope with the present and future requirements.

The principle of sustainable development seeks to achieve the following three basic objectives:

      To maintain production of goods and services for development and efficiency.

      Conversation and management of neutral resources including preservation of bio-diversity and maintenance of biological integrity.

      Maintenance and enhancement of the quality of life adopting the principle of equitable distribution of wealth and material resources.

These objectives may respectively be called as economic, environmental and social objectives of the principle of sustainable development (kavitakait, 2008)

FEATURES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:

      Sustained Rise in Real per Capita Income:  There should be a sustained rise in real per capita income and economic welfare on long term basis.

      Rational Use of Natural Resources: Sustainable development simply means that natural resources should be rationally used in a manner such that they are not over exploited.

      Preserving the natural resources for future generations: Sustainable development aims at making use of natural resources and environment for raising the existing standard of living in such a way as not to reduce ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.

Strategies for Sustainable Development

      Efficient Technology: Use of production technologies which are input efficient. It means more is produced per unit of input.

      Use of Environment-friendly Sources of Energy: promotion of wind energy, solar energy and other environment friendly sources of energy in place of fossil fuels.

      Promotion of Organic Farming: Adaption of chemical free agriculture.

      Recycling of the Wastes.

      Public Means of Transport: Public means of transport are to be rapid, comfortable and economical (GKTODAY, 2016).

Sustainable development is the idea that human societies must live and meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The “official” definition of sustainable development was developed for the first time in the Brundtland Report in 1987.

Specifically, sustainable development is a way of organizing society so that it can exist in the long term. This means taking into account both the imperatives present and those of the future, such as the preservation of the environment and natural resources or social and economic equity.

The industrial revolution is connected to the rise of the idea of sustainable development. From the second half of the 19th century, Western societies started to discover that their economic and industrial activities had a significant impact on the environment and the social balance. Here are some examples of the economic and social crises that shook the world in the twentieth century:

• 1907: the American banking crisis
• 1923: the crisis of American hyperinflation
• 1929: the financial crisis of the 1930s begins
• 1968: the worldwide protests against bureaucratic elites
• 1973 and 1979: oil shocks
• 1982: the debt shock of developing countries

And some examples of ecological crises:

·         1954: Rongelap nuclear fallout

·         1956: Mercury crisis of Minamata

·         1957: Torrey Canyon oil spill

·         1976: Seveso disaster

·         1984: Bhopal disaster

·         1986: Chernobyl nuclear disaster

·         1989: Exxon Valdez oil spill

·         1999: Erika disaster

THE PRINCIPLES OF A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Respect and care for the community of life and improve the quality of human life. Conserve the Earth's vitality and diversity. Minimize the depletion of non-renewable resources. Keep within the Earth's carrying capacity.  Change attitudes and practices and enable communities to care for their own environments.  Provide a national framework for integrating development and conservation. Create a global alliance.

SALIENT FEATURES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

There are some other salient features of sustainable development are as follow;

      It considers the equity between countries and continents, races and classes, gender and ages.

      It includes social development and economic opportunity on one hand, and the requirements of the environment on the other.

      It is a process which leads to a better quality of life while reducing the impact on the environment.

      It acknowledges the interdependence of human needs and environmental requirements.

REFERENCES

GKTODAY. (2016, 2 7). Retrieved from https://www.gktoday.in/: https://www.gktoday.in/answers/what-is-sustainable-development-explain-the-features/

kavitakait. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.legalservicesindia.com/: http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1641/Sustainable-Development,-Guiding-Principles-And-Values.html

Shah, M. (2008). Sustainable Development. ScienceDirect .