Sustainable Development

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

One day, I had a nightmare. I dreamt that, “All the natural resources of the world are on their last legs. The water on the Earth is dried up. Trees are falling off and hence no shade, no food. People are begging for rainwater. They’re digging wells here and there to water the crops, but all in vain. They are relying on animal products, dairy, but their amount is also on the way out. People are roaming around and suffering, desperately praying for their survival.”

I told my father about the dream and then he told me about the need to conserve these resources so as not to get the situation I dreamt of.

What is Sustainable Development?

Balancing the necessity to use resources and also conserve them for future -- so that besides meeting the requirements of the present, also takes care of future generations – is called sustainable development.

Let’s Explore the Past……:

Since the last two or three decades, the environment underwent through a drastic change as the humans have been focusing on economic growth rather than resource conservation. As we all know, there are two types of natural resources: the renewables and the non renewables.

Renewable resources are those which get renewed or replenished quickly. Some of them are unlimited and are not affected by human activities. For ex. Solar energy, wind energy, etc. Yet careless uses of certain renewable resources like water, air, forest, soil can affect their stock.

Non renewable resources are those which have limited stock. It means that once the stocks are exhausted it may take thousands of years to get renewed or replenished. For ex. Coal, petroleum and natural gas are considered as non renewable resources as their period of replenishment is much more than human life spans.

But, there has been an impact on the environment such as:

Decline in air quality and climate change due to greenhouse gases. Deficiency of soil nutrient due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers.Pollution of sea and ocean water by throwing garbage into that, spilling of oil and chemicals through goods carrying ships, etc.Excessive use of coal and petroleum for domestic and industrial use.      However, with some efforts we can save these precious resources from getting exhausted by:

Using CNG loaded vehicles so as to minimize the air pollutionTaking public vehicles for transportation Riding bicycles or simply walking for short distancesUsing of manure instead of fertilizers for cropsPracticing organic farming on larger extentProper packaging and storing of goods carried by the ships Using more convenient and renewable ways to produce energy such as wind energy, hydropower, geothermal energy, etc.

Other measures include introduction of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 to address the world's urgent environmental, political, and economic challenges. The SDGs reinstated the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were created in 2000 to speak to poverty. The UN chose 17 objectives in 2015 that are applicable universally to renovate the world and has endorsed them as global goals of sustainable development for the period 2015-2030. The UN 2030 Agenda envisages “a world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination”

Now let’s dive into a safer future…..:

“Now, I’m thinking of a bright future that has been created by each person who has contributed by reducing consumption, recycling and reusing things. Ultimately it made a difference as all our lives were linked.”

So, the future of our planet and its inhabitants is associated with our ability to maintain and preserve the life support system that nature provides. Therefore it is our duty to ensure that:

All uses of renewable resources are sustainable: The diversity of life on the earth is conserved: The damage to natural environmental structure is curtailedDepletion of natural resources is minimizedOverexploitation of resources is reducedAll the 17 SDGs are followed. With this ability and energy towards sustainable development we can make our mother earth truly the best place to live in.