scholarly journals Sustainability and Asia

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Els van Dongen ◽  
Hong Liu

What is the added value of investigating the contested concept of “sustainability” in tandem with the geographical marker of “Asia” in today’s world? To answer this question, we need to return to the formulation of the problematique of “sustainability” and “sustainable development” several decades ago. The Our Common Future report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)—also known as the Brundtland Commission—put forward the most commonly recognized and most frequently used definition of “sustainable development” (SD) in 1987.1 Development could be made sustainable, so the report stated, “to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987: 15). The report further proclaimed that there were limits to development, but that improvements in technology and social development could “make way for a new era of economic growth” (ibid.).

Author(s):  
Abdulmenaf Turan ◽  
Mahmut Güler

Environmental problems have become the main agenda of all countries in the world since 1970’s. Various reports have been written, international meetings have been held and various contracts, agreements and action plans were accepted according to these decisions. Each of these arrangements has reflected to policies of countries. The most important issue of international meetings is that environmental values and natural resources should be used rationally and without extravagancy, should be protected and sustained considering the policy of using rights and benefits of current and future generations. In this sense, the concept of “sustainable development” which aims at enabling economic growth and is defined as an environmentalist view in included in the report called Our Common Future which is prepared by Bruntland in 1987 and presented to United Nations Commission of Environment and Development. Later on, this principle was accepted as the main principle of meeting in RIO Summit of 1992. Turkey which is one of the developing countries did not remain out of this process and determined environmental policies in accordance with decisions in global level. Turkey participated in both meetings mentioned above; carried out preparation studies according to these principles and adapted these principles to legal regulations and policies about environmental and economic development. In this study, first of all historical development of sustainable development concept in global sense will be explained and then it will be evaluated how this principle influences environmental policies in Turkey in analytical way together with examples of practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
David Grierson ◽  
Ashraf M. Salama

Sustainability has been an important topic in many disciplines over two decades, and its urgency is rising. At the same time, a conceptual understanding of sustainability remains rather vague, posing a challenge for research in this area. Nevertheless the term ‘sustainability’ is increasingly used in the context of ecological, economic, and social studies. In green economics it is often used interchangeably with the term ‘sustainable development’, defined by the World commission on environment and development in 1987 as, “development which meets he needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” this underlines sustainability’s ethical dimension where a normative view implies treating sustainability as a form of intergenerational equity and fairness. The question of intergenerational equity constitutes a growing concern, and our obligation to future generations requires us to look beyond short-term public policy preoccupations to anticipate building a better future for all.


2021 ◽  
Vol 295 ◽  
pp. 01043
Author(s):  
Gennady Alexandrov ◽  
Irina Vyakina ◽  
Galina Skvortsova

It should be noted, that today the world scientific community try to find new ways of economic development, which are aimed at refusing to absolutize economic growth at the expense of solving social and ecological problems and ensuring the vital requirements of future generations. In this regard, the authors have proposed a methodological technique, that allows to systematize the factors of investment attractiveness of the business environment of the region, which are considered in terms of implementing the goals of sustainable development and increasing innovative activity. At the same time, we consider it necessary to emphasize, that the use of the obtained research results will allow, in our opinion, to significantly advance both in theoretical and practical terms in solving the development and implementation of reasonable interim measures to advance the region towards achieving sustainable development goals.


2010 ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Shalini Singh ◽  
Amit Kumar

With the dawn of the 21st century, we are confronted with two conflicting scenarios for the future of man kind. On the one hand, there are possibilities of a bright future with press button living, space shuttles, information technology, genetic engineering and such other advances in science and technology. On the other hand, a grim scenario is looming large with burgeoning population starved of resources and choked by pollution. Faced with such crucial situation wherein we stand at the crossroads in choosing between environment and development we feel the need of ‘Sustainable Development’. The concept of sustainable development means that the rate of consumption or use of natural resources should approximate the rate at which these resources can be substituted or replaced. It further requires that a nation or society is able to satisfy its requirements- social, economic or others without jeopardising the interest of future generations. The paper broadly tries to outline the basic concept of sustainable development, the world-wide activities initiated to deal with environmental problems and the major strategies that can be adopted by nations for sustainable development.


Author(s):  
Thomas S. Bianchi

In this chapter, I will explore the concept of sustainability, as viewed in the United States and around the world, and examine how we have arrived at our current thinking about conservation practices in a continually evolving, complex geopolitical sphere. I will do this to link delta restoration with the broader, global issues of providing food and clean water as described in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (http:// www.un.org/millenniumgoals). Many people have written on global environmental sustainability, so I will only briefly summarize these views here and conclude with a brief statement about delta sustainability. During the short time that humans have been on this planet, we have altered nearly 50% of the land surface, and 50% of the wetlands in the world have been lost—a consequence of the unsustainable mindset of human civilizations. Sustainability embodies “stewardship” and “design with nature,” with well-defined goals and an agreed upon “carrying capacity,” that can be developed and modeled by scientists and planners. The most popular definition of sustainability can be traced to a 1987 United Nations conference, in which sustainable development programs were described as those that “meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Robert Gillman, editor of In Context magazine, extends this goal-oriented definition by stating “sustainability refers to a very old and simple concept (The Golden Rule) … do unto future generations as you would have them do unto you.” These well-established definitions set forth an ideal premise, but they do not specify the human and environmental parameters needed to model and measure sustainable development. So, here are some more specific definitions: “Sustainable means using methods, systems and materials that won’t deplete resources or harm natural cycles.” Sustainability “identifies a concept and attitude in development that looks at a site’s natural land, water, and energy resources as integral aspects of the development.”


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Liene Amantova-Salmane

Sustainable development has become an universal phrase and the area of many policy initiatives, especially those regarding environmental organizations. The revision of the dimensions of sustainable development gives vital support to develop and implement indicators for them. The dimensions of sustainable development are inseparable and mutually reinforcing. Sustainable development actions depend on complexity and working with different interests of environment and development. It is impossible to predict what needs future generations will have. The obligation of the current generation is both to use and protect the world resources in ways that meet human development opportunities more justifiably today, but which do not exclude choices for such actions tomorrow. The aim of the research is to analyse the dimensions of sustainable development. More deeply, the research tasks are to outline the hierarchical organization of sustainable development criteria and indicators and to create a new paradigm of sustainable development dimensions. The methods of research are monographic, quantitative, deductive, and inductive. The key result: a new paradigm of sustainable development dimensions is created. Sustainable development is a concept, possibly surrounding closely every aspect of human society. The meaning of the dimensions of sustainable development is all the time in progress. There is a new approach to the dimensions given in the research. Sustainability could be understood better in terms of “here and now”, “later” and “elsewhere”. The existence of sustainability criteria guarantees sustainability in the long perspective. It can be suggested that the sustainability criteria analysis and their practical use could be further developed. 


2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (4I) ◽  
pp. 273-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajendra K. Pachauri

Honourable Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, his excellency Mr Ahsan Iqbal, the President, Pakistan Society of Development Economists, discussants, Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan and Dr Rehana Siddiqui, Dr Durr-e-Nayab, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me say at the outset that it is a great privilege for me to be here and to be given this opportunity to deliver the Quaid-i-Azam Lecture. I regard this as a signal honour and I feel particularly privileged coming from India being able to speak in honour of the Quaid-i-Azam, the founder of this country. I want to express my gratitude for this particular privilege which I have been given. I also want to acknowledge the very warm sentiments expressed by his Excellency the Minister. I certainly believe that in this day and age we have to look forward, we have to look at the future and I think we have to erase some of the problems, demolish some of the barriers and the hindrances that have prevented South Asian cooperation in the past. So Sir, your words in that context are certainly appreciated and I would say that we have to put them into effect by ushering in a new future for this region. I want to mention that when I had the privilege of accepting the Nobel peace prize on behalf of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 along with Mr Al Gore, in my acceptance speech I used a Sanskrit phrase which is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and that means the universe is one family. Now if the universe is one family, may I submit that, we particularly in Pakistan and India are really the core of that family. I believe the future lies in our ability to develop a model of economic growth and development that serves as an example for the rest of the world. Let me at the very outset say that we have been somewhat negligent and perhaps short sighted in emulating what has been established as a form of development in other parts of the world and I will say a little more about this as I move on. Let me start by referring to the definition of sustainable development which essentially comes out of the work of the Brundtland Commission that was completed in 1987 and it’s a very simple definition. It defines sustainable development as that form of development which allows the current generation to meet their own needs without compromising on the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. So, therefore, it essentially takes into account the issue of intergenerational equity. Whatever we do today should not be selfishly oriented by which we might meet more than our needs today


Author(s):  
M. Leann Brown

Sustainable development (SD) is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This definition is articulated in Our Common Future, a political manifesto published in 1987 by the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). SD promises to resolve in a positive-sum manner the most daunting economic, environmental, political, and social challenges the world is currently facing. However, it has also become a much contested concept, mainly due to the comprehensiveness, ambiguity, and optimism inherent in its underlying assumptions. Ongoing debates within the literature deal with how to define, operationalize, and measure SD; how economic development and environmental protection are conceptualized as mutually supportive; how “nature” is treated in the literature; equity and overconsumption challenges to SD; and the governance, social learning, and normative transformations required to achieve SD. Reaching some consensus on definitions and operationalization of the multiple aspects of SD will lead to standards by which to assess development and environmental policies. Among the most urgent issues that must be addressed in future research are the roles and influence of the relatively new participants in governance, such as intergovernmental/nongovernmental organizations and corporations; the new modes of governance including public-private and private-private partnerships and network governance; and the impacts of implementing compatible and contradictory policies on the various levels and across policy areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 166 ◽  
pp. 04004
Author(s):  
Orest Pakholiuk ◽  
Iryna Zadorozhnikova ◽  
Serhii Uzhehov ◽  
Oleksandr Chapyuk ◽  
Ruslan Pasichnyk

Recently, environmental problems have become more acute. In 1980, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) prepared the World Conservation Strategy. This document interpreted the term “sustainable development” as an inseparable link between social development and nature conservation. And already in 1992, after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the concept of sustainable development gained a leading status. The conference materials determined that sustainable development is a development of a society that meets the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Therefore, being aware of the need for energy conservation, there is increasing emphasis on the use of solar energy throughout the world to generate electricity and heat.


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