It's no secret that people live longer and that is one of the main reasons why sustainable development is so important. According to the United Nations projects there will be more that 10 billion people living on Earth by the year 2100. The rise of the population means that there will be more demand of supplies and energy. If the energy continues to be developed by finite fossil fuels, instead of sustainable resources, the environmental damage will drive us to a dead-end. [1]
Sustainability has never been more important. People are being more and more informed about the need to be sustainable, but they don’t really know all the reasons. Let’s dive more into it.
The environmental changes were the initial concerns that woke up the population to consider that something was going wrong. The climate change, the ozone deterioration, the acid rain and the dead zones in the ocean were only few of the indications. Currently some improvements have started to improve the environmental condition, even though the air, land and water pollution is still a major problem. Most countries don’t have any special treatment for the waste and so they end up to landfills or the oceans. Even incineration that is considered to be sustainable, as it produces energy, causes air pollution due to the gasses. [2]
From an energy point of view, people have already used a huge amount of non-renewable resources. As the years pass by and people live longer, more of these resources are needed, which will finally be depleted. There are many kinds of renewable resources, such as using biomass, fuel cells, hydro, solar, wind, tidal waves and thermal forms of harnessing the earth’s natural elements. [1]
Economically, most companies are convinced that it takes a lot of extra money to become sustainable, which the customers will never pay. However, being sustainable will eventually help the business. The companies will become more efficient, improve their brand value and reputation, provide a platform for innovation, help attract and retain staff, achieve better growth, cut costs and strengthen stakeholder relations. [3]
Society has mainly the same concerns with the businesses. The costs, the additional infrastructures and the effort to convince people to change behavior are some of the main reasons to avoid and postpone any programs of sustainability and progress.
Over enough time, sustainable development will no longer be an option! It will be the only available way for cities and regional development. It's only a matter of time. The question is whether humans are going to make the transition toward sustainability on their own terms or if they will be forced to make a rapid transition when all of the other options finally run out. [1]
As a conclusion, there is no argument against sustainability. Sustainable development is cleaner, has the potential to be more efficient, has long-term potential and is the only way forward for a growing world economy.
1. ‘Why is sustainable development important?:
http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Why_Is_Sustainable_Development_Important
2. ‘Seven biggest environmental threats’:
http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Seven_Biggest_Environmental_Threats
3. ‘Why should my business become more sustainable? :
http://sustainable.org.nz/what-we-do/sustainable-tools-resources/pathway-to-sustainability/guide-to-sustainability/
