SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
“I believe that unless we adopt sophisticated aboriginal belief systems and learn respect for all life, then we lose our own, not only as lifetime but also as any future opportunity to develop our potential. Whether we continue our development, without an ethic or a philosophy, like abandoned and orphaned children, or whether we create opportunities to achieve maturity, balance, and harmony is the only real question that faces the present generation. This is the debate that must never stop.”
Bill Mollison, founder of Permaculture
Economic development has failed the Developing World. Despite millions of dollars of aid, development programs, and specialists the Less Developed Countries have not progressed to the levels of the Developed Countries, and some have seen a tendency to decline. This begs the question, is economic development the answer to the problems facing the Developing World, or are there other solutions?
In an increasingly global economic system it is difficult to not stress the importance of economic growth, however the problem still remains of the millions of poor, starving, uneducated, and unhealthy people who fight for daily survival. Coupled with the human dilemma is also the problem of our polluted waters, air, and soil, the problem of diminishing natural resources, and the concern for future generations’ survival. Perhaps the answer, then, is not to completely abandon economic growth but to change the goals, and principles of its theories to better aid the people of our planet and the environment.
The answer is Sustainable Development. Defined, it seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising those of the future. However, it goes much deeper than that. Sustainable development seeks to provide a balance with society’s economic demands, and the requirements of the environment to maintain itself.
Nevertheless, economists and environmentalists have different views as to what sustainable economic development means. The economists’ viewpoint is regretfully anthropological, that is the state of the environment is only of concern where it applies to human use. The economists tend to see the environment as a collection of goods, which have demand functions, and supply functions.
When the environmentalists speak of sustainable economic development they see the environment as a functioning system that must be maintained regardless of human demands or needs. The ecological perspective focuses on cycles and behaviour patterns within the biosphere. The environmental model recognizes that an ecological system is sustainable only if it is resilient.
There are two options for development. The development policy can focus on the
national,
federal level, or development policy can focus of the
grassroots,
community level.
National development policies tend to focus on growth within the economy, however the development policies of the past have caused enormous damage environmentally. The first concern of broad scale policy makers should be how much growth is possible. If the LDCs are to grow so to reach the same level of growth as the DCs, then according to the United Nations’ Commission on Environment and Development, the LDCs must grow by a factor of seven. However, even an expansion by a factor of four is impossible if, as some have said, the human economy occupies one-fourth of the global net primary product of photosynthesis. We cannot go beyond one hundred percent. Clearly the LDCs cannot reach our levels of growth without some change in the economies of the DCs.
Perhaps the most appropriate place for sustainable development work is in the communities and townships of the LDCs. The most important aspects of sustainable community development are the self-sufficiency factor, and the renewed self-worth that comes with the ability to provide for one’s family and one’s self. Community development is influenced by “bottom-up” techniques such as entrepreneurship, co-operation, indigenous knowledge, and ingenuity.
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of bottom-up development strategy is that it does not see agriculture as backward to development and industry as progressive. Further, the objectives of community development often include a wider range of goals than traditional national development. Evidently the focus in regional development is on agriculture and agricultural products rather than industry building. However, traditional agriculture is not a sustainable development option. The world can no longer sustain the damage caused by modern agriculture, monocultural forestry, and the thoughtless settlement design, and in the near future we will see the end of wasted energy, or civilization as we know it, due to human-caused pollution and climate change from current methods of agriculture.
The key is to develop new forms of agriculture that provide for the maintenance of ecological systems, and to allow for immediate development; in other words, that fulfil short term needs, and ensure that a long term plan is established which will continue the self-reliancy of a community. The hope too is that a community that is self-reliant and stable will then be able to turn around and support national economic development.
Sustainable development has emerged as a solution, both to the human crisis and the environmental one. By definition, sustainable development may not focus exclusively on economic or anthropologic goals, but rather it may serve the ecosystems and the problems associated within. However, humans are an element of the ecosystem, and there is a place for human development within sustainable development. The sustainable development approach is now a necessity in our era of environmental destruction, it is applicable on both the national and local levels, and can provide the foundation for a growing economy.