The end of the XX century displayed very serious issues in the development of human society, in terms of the situation with environment, policy, economy, etc. People now have faced the results of their development, and become more and more concerned about maintaining balance in everything, thus, starting to implement measures of sustainable development.
First of all, it is necessary to give the definition of sustainable development. The brief “standard” definition “when judged by its widespread use and frequency of citation” is the one given in the 1980s by The Brundtland Commission, and run as follows: “ability to make development sustainable – to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Kates, Parris & Leiserowitz, 2005, p.10). But with the course of time, the meaning of sustainable development widened and now it embraces three “pillars of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental” (Kates, Parris & Leiserowitz, 2005, p. 12).
And now world public is to reinforce “economic development, social development, and environmental protection – at local, national, regional and global levels” (Kates, Parris & Leiserowitz, 2005, p. 12). So now people understand the necessity of sustaining these three “pillars” in complex, without prejudice to any of them. But it is not so easy, for some countries, though consuming natural capital quite rapidly (sometimes faster than it can be replenished by nature) have no economic capital to advance sustainable development in their region; and it goes without saying that such countries cannot afford to contribute into the global sustainable measures. And it is sad but the majority of countries in the world cannot afford to maintain balance in their environment, economy, and even life standards. One of these countries is Uganda, which faces grave problems in each of the “pillars”: for example, most of its 22 million population (which is reported to double by 2020) is involved in agriculture and suffer from the soil erosion and decrease in soil fertility, which people of Uganda cannot overcome without the help of world public. But the gravest problem in this region is the lack of potable water. The whole country suffers from the declining quality of water, which can be surmounted by implementing a thoughtful governmental water policy. There is a precedent when policy-makers of Chile succeeded in providing thoughtful measures to advance the water supply in their country, and in thirty years the problem was solved (Domper, 2009). But, of course, Ugandans will need the outer help of the world public, which will help with knowledge and money.
But it is necessary to admit that not only do developing countries damage the environment; the most of natural capital is used by the developed countries, and the biggest pollutants are developed countries as well. But a very good example of considered policy in terms of sustainable development presents Canada. Despite the fact that Canada is regarded as a country of forests, beautiful landscapes, and virginal nature, it faces a lot of environmental problems: pollution, acid rains, greenhouse effect, etc. But the high level of economical and social development makes it possible for Canadians to succeed in environmentally sustainable development. Canadian federal government “at the national level” demonstrates its focus on the environmental issues “through a variety of national, federal-provincial, and international policies and plans of action” (Dwivedi, 2001, p. 44) One of these programs is the policy of implementing “alternative energy technologies, such as active solar and wind power” which make a less negative impact to the environment (Dwivedi, 2001, p. 42).
But, unfortunately, sustainable development is not an ideal system, for, despite grave environmental and social problems, some people try to lobby their interests. Some conflict theory followers see in some developed societies’ policy of sustainable development threat to the developing countries’ social life development. For example, implementing some environmental or social policy in developing countries developed societies take control of population growth and low level of social development in those countries, which strengthens the power of those developed countries. Critiques of sustainable development who regard it using the approach of conflict theories underline that developing countries become even more dependent on their “helpers”, and, thus, conclude with the essence of their approach: “People on top enjoy more power than those on the bottom” (Brym, 2007, p. 144).
But, of course, sustainable development faces a lot of criticism from other points of view. For example, there is another disputable aspect of sustainable development which lies in its consequence. In other words, it is impossible to predict some of the results of different programs, in ecology and in the economy; globalization makes it impossible to act in isolation. And one unreasonable step in terms of sustainable development policy may cause grave negative results to the economy or ecology of a country or even the whole world.
Thus, sustainable development is a very important system to follow for every country and even each person, for each person contribution can advance the whole system in terms of the whole world. Each person should be committed to reinforcing sustainable development in the whole world.
References
Brym R.J., Lie J. (2007). Sociology: Your Compass For A New World, Third Edition. Belmont: Thompson Higher Education.
Domper M. (2009). Can Uganda Learn From Chile’s Water Revolution? Web. The Sunday Monitor (Uganda). Web.
Dwivedi O. P. (2001). Sustainable Development And Canada: National & International Perspectives. Peterborough: Broadview Press, LTD.
Kates R.W., Parris T.M., Leiserowitz A.A. (2005). What Is Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values, And Practice. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 47 (3), 8–21.