6 Introduction to Sustainable Development

could atfect the well-hein

are now so
serious that they eing
and many other issues
climate change coastal plains, such as Karachi, DhatKa
and survival of billions, especially megacities
on low-lying
and Mumbai, are at risk.
that we live in a time of immensa
At the same time, the SDG declaration also recognises increased for both
Access to education and health care has greatly
boys and girls
opportunity.
ternational colleges and universities are springing up all over the developin8 world. Emerging
countries produce more and more research themselves, suitable for their oWn development
and exchanging experience among
in the Global South are increasingly trading
needs. Countries
themselves as they face similar challenges. Information and communication technologies have
become accessible to many all over the world. This access is still very unequal, but it has the
potential to contribute to solving economic, social and environmental issues everywhere.
Technologies using the energy of sun and wind have seen large cost reductions and are now
widely used in DCs. Moreover, they are extremely useful in taking energy to the underserved
remote areas where there is no central power grid. we need to find out, then, how we can
harness positive forces to effect change towards achieving the SDGs.

Box 1.1
Consumption Connects People
A university professor in Bishkek,
or from Sri Lanka. If she is a fanKyrgyzstan
tea (Central Asia) drinks coffee from Ethiopia
of traditional local drinks she
the hillsides around Lake Son
Kul. Her laptop and might take kymnys from
but their smartphone
components came from dozens of other countries. She were assembled in
China,
from around the world. buys books
North America. Her cotton They are printed on paper that by mail order
clothes were made in may originate from the forests of
from Uzbekistan. Her silk
blouses came from Thailand Turkey out of cotton
exported
there
food still comes from and Vietnam.
Central Asia Most of her
supplements preserved fruits and it is tasty and affordable. However, in winter,daily
as

Southern Europe. vegetables with import food items from she

Her Russia and
colleague in the small
different lifestyle. He still town of Batken at the other
buys fresh local bread and milk side of the
mer, he and his
family spend days in country has a very
the bazaar.
to the
nearby
Most of the city
of Osh, he preserving food for During late sum-
browses for items at the winter. Whenever he needs to
and other clothing available there is from the large
wholesale bazaar at go
consumer China.
products available, for his He buys the Karasuu.
salary is low. cheapest types of tea, grains
While human
natural systems,development
this is not
and
security are
ecosystems are complex, and thealways easy to seeclosely
at the
linked to the
condition of the
knowledge until the
there have been impacts human
on
impacts of our
actions
local level. Part
need time to of the planets
reason is
weakening or evensituations where the well-being force us to develop. As a result, we that
of a wrong study the lacs
lack ofthefood
suffered from lac collapse society. management of natural problem. In the past,
know that the salt supply Ancient Sumer in
build-up in due to decreasing resources led to tne
caused by [Link],
the soil soil
was for
With instance
today's insights
over-irrigation. Now, this may be
nts, we

a
 Chapter 1: A Mattor of Urgency 7

I we misinterprect
extreme example, but it does shOw that the consequences may be severe,
nature's signs. named after
In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development
(WCED;
or resource
terms of population
its chair Ms Brundtland) noted that 'growth has o set linmits in commission
mine). The
use beyond which lies ecological disaster' (Our(Common Future, emphasis
for example, through
expected limits to be felt per issue at different tinmes and in different ways, use could stretch
efficient resource
rising resource cost and diminishing returns. It said that more
were reached. We shoul,
those limits, so it recommended policy action long before such limnits
thus, be alert to the signs of decline.
The art of sustainable development (SD) centres on balancing local needs and aspirations
with the particular opportunities and limitations of the local environment. This balance might
look very differently for a wetland region in Bangladesh than for a dryland area in neighbouring
the condition of local
India. Scarcities of water or fertile land will play a central role, as will
a mix of development and
ecosystems. If they are degraded, strategies will have to include
and livelihoods.
conservation efforts, based on a deep understanding of ecological specifics
when a region that
Solutions may have to be pragmatic and out of the ordinary. For instance,
should perhaps invest in dramatic
exports water-intensive crops runs into scarcity, it
there are multiple
improvements of water use efficiency or switch crops. In these processes,
smallholder farmers without influence
interactions between stakeholder interests, for example
well-connected landowners. Also if we integrate policy links with other
relevant
and bigger
issues such as energy and food security, the complexity grows. Consultations and partnerships
at the
are inevitable inproducing widely accepted, durable outcomes. Part lI of this book looks
various stakeholders and the tools they have to attain SD.
In the next two sections, we will present scientific evidence of environmental stress signals
The fourth
that have prompted governments to take action. History will tell if it was enough.
section of every chapter is about schools of thought. This is an expression
of the fact that
opinions about SD, like all grand social themes, are heavily influenced by people's deeply
held convictions about life, the world and how things should be. In this chapter, we introduce
four typical worldview categories that are broad enough to include most views. All are
reasonable and put varying emphases on such things as markets, institutions, ecology and
human solidarity. Finally, the last section of this chapter introduces the idea of transition-a
long-term, complex social change process with many uncertainties, high stakes and steering
needed to lead society onto
problems. We apply this term to the co-ordinated system changes
a SD path. In subsequent chapters, we will review eaclh chapter's theme in the light of the
overall transition.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
A historical overview of human interactions with the planet reveals a trend from taking nature
asitwasto increasingly interfering with natural processes to suit human needs. Also, the scale at
which humans impact the natural environment has increased dramatically, especially in the
last few centuries. With it, we believe, human responsibility for its inpacts has grown. Yet our
action to fulfil this responsibility is seriously lagging behind.
In ancient times, people lived together in small groups near coasts and rivers or in torests,
making a living from gathering plants, fruits and nuts, and/or hunting for animals and fish.
 Sustainable Development
Introduction to
8
learned to make firo
developed as they and new
skills and
instruments
for their daily use what he
Over time, their bronze and iron. Essentially, they took e n v i r o n m e n t . Some groupDs nature
materials such as on their
natural
were totally dependent and skins. If their
provided and their milk, meat
animals and use them for cond
wild and have their young in safe
repitions,
to domesticate distances to find food
over large n the
were used to trekking such groups still exist in the Arctic
regi
often trek along with them. A few
people would
America.
of Eurasia and North when people learnt
to use plant seeds to grow.
crop
The next development step happened harvest where it happened to grow., ThisPs
rather than go out to
find the
near their homes from eating them. In other wo
on their crops
and prevent animals ords,
keep in Jordan testity to this step which took nllace
they could an eye
became farmers. Excavations at Beida outcomes by a procee
people the ages, people learnt to improve
around 9,000 years ago. Again, through
selective breeding. Similarly, they
learnt to allow only tho se
of experimenting with seeds called for human such
animals to produce offspring that
had the most desirable properties use, as
or a docile nature and short legs so that they would not
maximum milk and meat production,
in natural processes
that people started actively intervening
easily run away. In this phase, we see
to suit their needs. Nevertheless, life was
still largely local, and apart from nomads and traders,
village.
their town or This pattern remained for many centuries.
few people ever travelled beyond
while small towns were established for protection, artisan trades and exchange of goods along
trade corridors, such as the Silk Route.
With the third step around 1800 ce began the age of great inventions that shaped moden
life, such as the steam engine. The ability to use coal to generate energy and do heavy work led
to a complete turnaround in the production of goods and services, called the Industrial
Revolution. Entrepreneurial people with excess money (capital) bought machines and hired
workers. Their businesses brought resources in from afar, transforming them into industrial
products, which were then spread over a wide area. Since machines were also introduced in
food production agricultural productivity went up and people were released to work in the
cities. Transportation was costly and time-consuming, so they also moved to the cities-a new
wave of urbanisation had
begun.
The fourth step is connected to the fast economic and population growth that took place
after 1950 CE. Industrial
production methods entered every sphere of life and resulted in larg
monocultures. These are large areas that mankind has dedicated to
one species and where a
other species are excluded. Thus, in some
countries, there are huge agricultural fields under o
staple crop (sugar cane or wheat). Other species are kept out fences or killed by gud
pesticides. Also humanity's cities are a monoculture as by are
environments where humans are the dominant they carefully mana8
without natural elements, so species. Yet people do not wish to live ent
houses and apartments. Of the
they keep plants and domestic animals in and arouna their
animals that
welcome, such as birds making their nests underthemselves choose to live with us, soIn are
the roof. However, aches
mice, rats and
take our food or other items such as coCKrO
are rigorously
exterminated. Otherwise, they spoil
them and spread disease. pape
Although this fourth
phase has so far been relatively man

impacts on the natural environment accelerates. short, the size and scale or nle
For instance,
moving across the globe are ever-increasing.
the flows of goods
and P the
talle_t building, the largest Every decade, there are new world
Our ability to hydropower dam and so on. recoru
change
This potential should be
the environment to
meet our needs and ding
paired with wants seems neve
ive.
Unfortunately, we are not
doing a goodresponsible attitudes or it will become
job managing the
of self-a of ou
planet from the perspect
 Matter of Urgoncy 9
Chapter 1: A

Box 1.2
Wind and Water

mechanisms are animals, wind and water. They disperse matter,

Nature's transportation earth (a little above
on
liquids through the biosphere, the layer of living organisms
gases and in response to differences
in air pres-
and below the surface). Wind is the movement of air air above
Sure along the earth's surface. As the Sun's rays strike
the earth, they heat up the
the altitude
at which the rays hit,
it. How much the air gets heated depends on the angle
Land heats up much
and air density at the location, and the type of landscape present.
land more quickly than forest.
more quickly than large water bodies, and pasture
Water is the most common liquid on earth thanks to its unique properties:
sheet on top of lakes so that
life
It expands when it freezes to form a protective
underneath survives. and
is higher than for most liquids,
The amount of energy needed to heat up water have mod-
As a result, large water bodies
a
hot water needs more time to cool down.
erating influence on the climate. so that it is available in liquid
form
It boils at higher temperatures than most liquids,
for life.
which enables it to trans-
Water is abetter solvent than any other common liquid,
eliminate waste products from living tis-
port nutrients (as in the bloodstream) and
or easlly
sue. Unfortunately, this property also causes water to erode landscapes
absorb pollution.
what it
things around, but may dissolve and change
water
Wind simply moves
knows what to do
flows are part of natural cycles and nature
transports. In the end, all will
caused by humans enters the environment, nature
with them. As soon as pollution of natural
concentration
would any other matter. When the
a
try to handle it as it could cause some problems and negative feedback
substance is temporarily high, this when
over time, the situation stabilises. However,
effects for humans. Nevertheless,
invented by people end up in the environment, they
unnatural substances that were
disturbances. Thus, acids may cause plants and fish to die.
will cause longer lasting
in growth or reproduction. Radioactive substances may
Poisons may cause disruptions
cancer. We need to heed the ecological
law that says that nothing
cause deformities and
moved and transformed.
released into nature disappears. Instead, it is
actually

with other
from the perspective of our responsibility to share the planet
long-term survival, nor
world that wrote the World Conservation
from all over the
life forms. According to the scientists
what must do:
Strategy (WCS 1980), this is we

of the Earth's resources to provide for future

1. We must not destroy the potential
generations.
that sustain life on our planet, such as
2. We must not interfere with the basic processes
and soil.
the organisms that clean air, water
of life.
3. We must preserve the very diversity
 Trends in Agro-Ecosystem Ouality
Figure 1.2

Over ollution
Habitat Climate Invasive
exploitation (nitrogen,
change change species
phosphorus
Boreal

Forest Temperate

Tropical

Temperate grassland

Mediterranean
Dryland
Tropical grassland
and savanna

Desert

tnland water

Coastal

in

Mountain
Polar

Driver's impact on
over biodiversity
the last Driver's current trends
century
Low
Decreasing impact
Moderate
Continuing impact
High
Increasing impact
Very high Very rapid increase
Source: Millenniun of the impact
Asessment 2005

plant and animal life.

bodies turned to desert In extreme cases, such as
and the Aral Sea or water
Due to human people were forced to Lake Chad,
natural speed. interference plant and animal move away.
Between species
now
threatened with 10% and 30% of mammal,diebird out 1,000 times faster
extinction. Major causes and amphibian ies a
sPhitats
include destruction of their *
 Chapter 1: A Matter of Urgency 13
13
(forests and wetlands), hunting, pollution and introduction of exotic species. The loss
of coral reefs, forest or grassland species and systems keeps tourists away and deprive
local communities of income. Species diversity is a form of long-term risk reduction
for agriculture.

Box 1.3
Sounding the Alarm over the Sundarbans

The Sundarbans are an afforested coastal ecosystem stretching along the Bay of Bengal for
350 km on the border of Bangladesh and India. The 10,000 sq. km area is host to the larg-
est mangrove forests in the world, a rich variety of plants and animals, and 12 million poor
people. Its main icon is the Bengal Tiger, an endangered species. It became a wetland pro-
tected under the Ramsar Convention in 1992 and a UN Education, Science and Culture
Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage site in 1997. in the last half century, there have been
increasing pressures on natural resources from people and, more recently, from the effects
of climate change. To make a living from agriculture or fish and shrimp farms, people have
reduced the area under mangrove forest. Sea-level rise and increase in size and frequency
of storms have degraded the ecosystem in various ways. They have also hit the local people
hard through tidal flooding and increased salinity of the soil that affects crop productivity
Experts have warned that destruction of the Sundarban forests will have much wider effects
than just the ecology of the area. It will cause damage to marine resources in the Bay of
Bengal and make Bangladesh more vulnerable to storm surge.
The causes are not only found in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from other world
regions that are changing the climate here. They are also in a number of home grown
developments, such as clearing of the mangrove forest which acted as a buffer against the
sea. The deteriorating water quality is due to untreated sewage and industrial pollution
from the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems, fertiliser and pesticide pollution, and oil
spills. Threats to wildlife emanate from habitat destruction (especially forest), pollution
and poaching of endangered species such as spotted deer, wild boar, tiger, marine turtles
and horse shoe crab. By their unsuitable methods, fishers of tiger prawns damage mangrove
roots and the integrity of the landscape. Poor maintenance leads to dikes crumbling, and
more damage ocurs during frequent storms. All of these factors will have to be investi-
gated and dealt with in order to preserve this unique ecosystem and protect the quality of
life for the people and animals of the Sundarbans.

The MA 2005 also studied the causes of environmental degradation in order to point out
directions for change towards sustainability. The processes that cause change and keep it going
are called driving forces. Figure 1.3 shows how drivers of change might affect ecosystem services
and human well-being. Direct drivers are factors that represent a direct change on the ground,
such as land-use change (farmland turned to urban use) or species introduction/removal by
humans. Indirect drivers are broader developments in population, technology or institutions
that lead to more intense human activity in nature.
As population more than doubled in the last 50 years, there have been constant incentives
to increase food production, water use, hydropower capacity, and so on. However, it turns out
that our impressive economic achievements have been obtained at the cost of degraded
 14 Introduction to Sustainable Development

Figure 1.3 Millennium Assessment Basic Framework

GLOBAL short-term
long-term
REGIONAL

LOCAL

Indirect drivers of change

Human well-being
and poverty reduction DEMOGRAPHIC
BASIC MATERIAL FOR A GOOD LIFE ECONOMIC (eg. giobalisation, trade,
market. and policy framework)
HEALTH
GOOD SoCIAL RELATIONS SOCIOPOLITICAL eg. governance
nstitutional and legal framework)
SECURITY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
FREEDOM OF CHOCE AND ACTION
CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS (eg. beliefs
consumption choices)

Ecosystem services
Direct drivers of change
PROVISIONING
(e.g., food, water, fibre, and fuel CHANGES IN LOCAL LAND USE AND
COVER
REGULATING SPECIES
(e.g., climate regulation, water, INTROOUCTION OR REMOVA
TECHNOLOGY ADAPTATION AND uSE
and disease)
EXTERNAL INPUTS te g.
CULTURAL
pest contal, and
fertiliser use,
([Link], aesthetic, recreation, irrigation)
and education) HARVEST AND RESOURCE CONSUMPTION
SUPPORTING CLMATE CHANGE
([Link] production, and
soil formation) NATURAL, PHYSICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL
DRIVERS (e.g, evalution, volcanoes)
LIFE ON EARTH-BIODIVERSITY

Strategies and interventions

Source: Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment

ecosystems. Theirecosystem services

are below full
restore them, they will provide even less to future generations.
potential,Unfortunately,
and the major i oto
unless we take actioa
trends until 2050
suggest that the pressures will only
leads to the conclusion that resource go up. A quick
to be carried out under are glance at the
requirements huge. So the restoration hae
extremely challenging
people will receive access to water, improved conditions. It will be crucial
work wiore
sanitation, food, dean and that millions nd
affordable eners