Environmental sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Environmental sustainability - Essay Example It would then only be a question of time that man ceases to exist. This paper discusses about environmental sustainability, mainly focusing on the Brundtland Report about the same. This report not just considers the earth’s â€Å"environmental decay, poverty, and hardship,† but also brings to fore the â€Å"possibility for a new era of economic growth† and how this possibility can be realized. Environmentalists and scientists alike have tried to bring the situation under control by closely examining the environment as well as the earth. They have proposed several theories and steps that would help man to protect the environment and safeguard it. One such concept is sustainable development, which is the â€Å"ability to make development sustainable (by) ensuring that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs† (Brundtland, 1987). So, in other words, sustainable development proposes some r estraints on the use of resources, which are to be followed in order to change the present perishing situation of the environment to some extent. It is a known fact that â€Å"poverty is no longer inevitable,† thus, such a world, is â€Å"prone to ecological and other catastrophes† (Brundtland, 1987). ... Even after they are implemented, there arise several changes in the environment, which curb the overall impact that the strategies might have had, had the environment remained the same as to when the plans were originally prepared. Therefore, it becomes clear that there are a lot of issues which stand in the way of environmental sustainability and its success. According to the Brundtland report, some of these issues include population growth, â€Å"food security, species and ecosystems, energy, industry and the urban challenge† (Brundtland, 1987). Population growth relates with not just the ever increasing number of people on the planet, but also the way in which this â€Å"number relate(s) to available resources† (Brundtland, 1987). The resources available are limited, but the population keeps on expanding, thus making it obvious that sooner or later consumption would increase so much that the resources would be finished off completely. Another factor that poses an iss ue is the unawareness or lack of knowledge on part of the greater number of people, who do not know how to use the resources efficiently. Therefore, the increasing population demands for increase in educational facilities and awareness programs, in addition to increase in other requirements such as food, health care, energy supplies etc. The problem in terms of food security is that though the production of food has increased rapidly â€Å"food is often not available where it is needed† (Brundtland, 1987). Thus, poor people frequently suffer from hunger and starvation. Similarly, when population grows, environmental risks such as pollution through means of increased number of transportation, factories and other chemical wastes also increase. In the case of species and