Sustainable Development

Essay # 59349

Environmental Studies > Economics and Policy
Environmental Studies > Environmental Problems

This paper discusses sustainable development, a concept of controlling the imbalance of economic growth and the protection of the environment.

1,955 words () | 12 sources | MLA | 2005

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that sustainable development is still an idea or a dream that has not developed into a reality because of the difficulty of resolving the conflict between economic and environmental needs. This paper points out that creating a harmony between economic and environmental needs does not mean that sustainable development eliminates economic development, but that both have to work together for the satisfaction of both economic and environmental needs. The paper relates that one of the most important international agreements negotiated for establishing and setting down these guidelines for sustainable development is the Kyoto Protocols, which established the foundations for a more expensive manufacturing and industrialization process that would substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, therefore, reverse the problem of global warming. The environmental problem can be solved, but requires short-term economic sacrifices.

From the Paper:

"In the "Bali Declaration on Population and Sustainable Development," the urgency of establishing a balance between present and future human needs on the one hand, and the capacity of the environment, on the other, is emphasized. As written in the Bali Declaration, "there is an urgent need to bring into balance population dynamics, socio-economic development, the use of natural resources and environmental qualities" (770). When the importance of balancing these needs is ignored, as it mainly is at the preset moment, the problem is not just that the environment suffers degradation and deterioration but that environmental problems threaten the quality and nature of human life and civilization. This is essentially the main message of environmentalists and development strategies who urge the importance of implementing sustainable development."