The Concept of Sustainable Development

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What is SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

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Sustainable Development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)

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Sustainable Development
Balancing the fulfillment of human needs with the protection of the natural environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future

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5 Aspects of Sustainable Development
“Meeting the needs of the present” means satisfying:

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Economical
a. Must be able to produce goods and services on a continuing basis
a. adequate livelihood or productive assets
b. economic security when unemployed, ill, disabled or otherwise unable to secure a livelihood

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Social
c. gender equity
d. political accountability
e. participation

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Political
Freedom to participate in national and local politics
Participation in decisions regarding the management and development of one’s home and neighborhood, with respect for civil and political rights and in the implementation of environmental legislation

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Environmental
Must maintain a stable resource base avoiding overexploitation of renewable resource systems and depleting non-renewable resources

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Cultural
A means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual existence

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Meeting such needs “without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” means:

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What to do?
Minimizing use or waste of non-renewable resources (by minimizing the consumption of fossil fuels and substituting with renewable sources where feasible)
Minimizing the waste (by reducing use, reusing, and recycling).

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What to do?
Sustainable use of renewable resources (by using freshwater, soils, and forests in ways that ensure a natural rate of recharge)

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What to do?
Keeping within the absorptive capacity of local and global sinks of wastes --- including the capacity of rivers to break down biodegradable wastes as well as the capacity of global environmental systems, such as climate, to absorb greenhouse gases.

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Philippine Agenda 21
part of the country's response to fulfill its commitments in the historic Earth Summit in 1992 where government and key sectors of society agreed to implement an action agenda for sustainable development, known as the Agenda 21
The sustainable development program of the country
Conceptualized during the time of President Fidel Ramos

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Key Actors in Sustainable Development

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Business
Key actor in the realm of economy
The central social concern and process is the mutually beneficial production and distribution of goods and services to meet the physical needs of human beings

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Government
Key actor in the realm of polity
The central social concern and process is participatory, democratic governance and rule making to secure the human rights of all citizens including justice and equity

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Civil Society
Key actor in the realm of culture
The central social concern and process is the development of the social and spiritual capacities of human beings in order, among others, to advance the frontiers of knowledge, to achieve clarity and coherence of values and to advocate the public interest

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7 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Primacy of Developing Full Human Potential – people are at the core of development initiatives
Holistic Science and Appropriate Technology – the search for solutions to the complex milieu of development problems has to be undertaken with the perspective that situates specific problems in the larger social and ecological context.

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Cultural, Moral and Spiritual Sensitivity – nurturing the inherent strengths of local and indigenous knowledge, practices and beliefs while respecting the cultural diversity, moral norms and spiritual essence of Filipino society

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Self-determination – Respecting the right and relying on the inherent capacity of the country and its people to decide on the course of their own development

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Principles of Sustainable Development
National Sovereignty – self-determination at the national level where the norms of society and the specifics of the local ecology inform national governance. Includes human and environmental security as well as achieving and ensuring security and self-reliance in basic staple foods.

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Gender Sensitivity – recognizing the important and complementary roles and the empowerment of both men and women in development
Peace, Order and National Unity – securing the right of all to a peaceful and secure existence

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Social Justice, Inter-, Intra-Generational and Spatial Equity – ensuring social cohesion and harmony through equitable distribution of resources and providing the various sectors of society with equal access to development opportunities and benefits today and in the future

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Participatory Democracy – ensuring the participation and empowerment of all sectors of society in development decision-making and processes and to operationalize inter-sectoral and multi-sectoral consensus

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Institutional Viability – recognizing that sustainable development is a shared, collective and indivisible responsibility which calls for institutional structures that are built around the spirit of solidarity, convergence and partnership between and among different stakeholders.

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Viable, sound and broad-based economic development – development founded on a stable economy where the benefits of economic progress are equitably shared across ages, communities, gender, social classes, ethnicities, geographical units and across generations.
http://www.oknation.net/blog/home/blog_data/635/21635/images/GF11.JPG

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Sustainable Population – achieving a sustainable population level, structure and distribution while taking cognizance of the limited carrying capacity of nature and the interweaving forces of population, culture, resources, environment and development.

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Ecological Soundness – recognizing nature as our common heritage and thus respecting the limited carrying capacity and integrity of nature in the development process to ensure the right of present and future generations to this heritage.

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Biographical Equity and Community-Based Resource Management – recognizing that since communities residing within or most proximate to an ecosystem of a bio-geographic region will be the ones to most directly and immediately feel the positive and negative impacts on that ecosystem, they should be given prior claim to the development decisions affecting that ecosystem including management of the resources.

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Principles of Sustainable Development
Global Cooperation – building upon and contributing to the diverse capacities of individual nations

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Conclusion:
Sustainable Development is a relevant concept in the process of socio-economic and political growth in the modern society.
Trinitarian approach to development – the key actors are not only coming from the government sector but also the process of socio-economic and political development must be shared by the business and civil society respectively.

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Conclusion:
The idea of SD and the different programs and principles under the Agenda 21 is not an instant magic formula.