Lesson 1: Introduction to key environmental issues today
The Earth is a space- ship with finite resources on board. Who could argue against such an obvious description of our reliance on our living environment? Unfortunately, there are many people among us and in positions of power who would like us to believe otherwise. The accelerated exploitation of the earth’s natural resource basis since the beginning of the industrial age has been accompanied by the pollution and destruction of natural environments.
Now, as the age of access has dawned upon us, conflicts over resources and power struggles related to the path of socio-economic development societies we are to embark on are ever more common. For many people who can afford relatively affluent life-styles, any suggestion that such lifestyles must be abandoned is seen as a threat. Arguably, most people in the world have “nothing to lose” and questions of life-style can be as plain as the possibly of having food and potable water.
This Suite-University course is designed to help you understand today’s key environmental issues, the questions and problems that affect all of us, although perhaps not equally.
By introducing you to these issues, I hope you will be in a stronger and more informed position to understand current issues and to decide knowledgeably what can be done to find viable solutions to environmental problems. Ideally, it will provide you with practical ideas on how you yourself are able to influence events at different levels. Seen as a first step for those who are new to the topic, the course will provide you with a baseline of understanding. Those who have already some experience in environmental matters will find new sources of knowledge and interesting arguments to review and to explore further.
Environmental management - More than a concept
Saying exactly what sustainable development is may not always easy. Apart from the UN and OECD definitions, individual organizations can adopt specific operational definitions. A broad and simple definition would be based on the idea of ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. The widely used international definition is 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'.
Indicators help to make the concept of development “tangible”, they allow for benchmarking, measurement, monitoring and clarification of the concept.
Concept Sustainable development indicators measure sustainability or sustainable development performance. Most environmental indicators have a sustainable development framework in which environmental, economic and social indicators are linked. Measurement of sustainable development should be based on indicators which signal:
1. the pressure that society puts on the environment (In the form of pollution and resource depletion)
2. the resulting state of the environment (especially the incurred changes) compared to desirable (sustainable) states
and
3. the response by human activity mainly in the form of political and societal decision, measures and policies. ------------------ Note: From Models and methods of measuring sustainable development performance, revised draft discussion paper prepared for the Sustainable Development Coordination Unit, Executive Council, Government of Manitoba, by Peter Hardi and Laszlo Pinter. Winnipeg: IISD, 1995. ----------------------
Clearly, indicators are important environmental management tools. The role of an indicator is to make complex systems understandable or perceptible. An effective indicator or set of indicators helps a community (or a manager) to determine where it is, where it is going, and how far it is from chosen goals. Indicators of sustainability examine a community's long-term viability based on the degree to which its economic, environmental, and social systems are efficient and integrated.
To measure the degree of efficiency and integration, a set of numerous indicators is often required. These indicators can incorporate several broad categories such as Economy, Environment, Society/Culture, Government/Politics, Resource Consumption, Education, Health, Housing Quality of Life, Population, Public Safety, Recreation, and Transportation.
A fine national level example of how indicators are used as a source of information for decisions in environmental management comes from Namibia. The government there has adopted a set of environmental indicators to be used to monitor environmental trends and developments (see: http://www.dea.met.gov.na/data/env_indic... ).
Essentially, environmental management involves study and trainings within a framework of a wide range of academic disciplines. None of these disciplines can on its own, claim a monopoly over the understanding of dynamics of the interrelationship between human beings and the physical environment. In order to effectively establish and maintain an efficient, cost-effective and economically safe environment, managers, planners and administrators do require tools and knowledge with which to establish policies and programs to cope with environmental issues.
