Concept of Sustainable Development

Dr. Manish Singh

Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Patna
Presentation Outline:

 Introduction:
* What is Sustainable Development?

 Concept of Sustainable Development

 Conceptual Aspects and Issues

 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

• Social, Economic, Environmental, Institutional, Digital
(KT) Dimension

 Principles/Premises of Sustainable Development

 Good Vision of Sustainable Development

 What do we mean by sustainability?

 Sustainability in environmental science means “the quality of not being harmful to the
environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term
ecological balance”.

 In other words, it means using resources in a way they last indefinitely. Achieving
sustainability will allow the Earth to continue supporting human life.
 Sustainable Development- Necessity

 humans had already used up more natural

resources than the Earth could renew for the whole
year. Table: Human activities affecting sustainability of the biosphere

 This means that last year, humanity lived on

“credit” from the Earth.

 There are studies predicting a consumption of 2

whole planets every year by the year 2050.

 Our planet is crying out for help and we need to

understand the urge for a more sustainable style
of living
 What is Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs)?

 The SDGs are a 17 point

plan to end poverty, halt
climate change and fight
injustice and inequality by
2030.

 These 17 goals represent

different aspects of human
life and together they reach
169 targets that all
countries should achieve.

In 2015, the UN adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that establish a new
framework for the global development efforts towards 2030
 Concept of Sustainable Development -Origin

 Origin of Concept of Sustainable Development:

 The concept of Sustainable Development (SD) did not become widespread until 1987 when the World
Commission on Environment and Development published Our Common Future, commonly known as
the Brundtland Report.

 Term – Sustainable development coined:

 The “Rio Summit” adopted Rio Declaration for achieving Sustainable Development in the 21st
Century. It is here that the concept originated

 International Union for the Conservation of Nature published the World Conservation Strategy
and used the term "sustainable development".

 This term has been used as a unifying theme in presenting environmental and social
concerns about worrisome trends toward accelerated environmental degradation and social
polarization in the 1970s and 1980s.
 Concept of Sustainable Development -
Definition
 Definition sustainable development :
 It stated that "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present
generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

 Concepts:
 It is now considered to be one of the most widely recognised definitions. As we can notice, it contains
within it two key concepts:

 the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which
overriding priority should be given;

 and the idea of limitations imposed by the state-of-art technology and social organization on the
environment's ability to meet present and future needs."
 Concept of Sustainable Development -Policy

 Sustainable development does not focus The three-sphere

solely on environmental aspects and framework was
issues. initially proposed by
the economist Rene
Passet in 1979
 More broadly, sustainable development
policies encompass three general policy
areas:
 There are three aims of sustainable development :-
 economic,
 environmental a) Economic- to attain balanced growth

 and social b) Ecological- to preserve the eco system

c) Social-guarantying equal access to resources to all

 Note: cultural diversity is the
fourth policy area of sustainable human communities

development in some places

 Concept of Sustainable Development -
Components

a) Social components-
• Workers health and safety ; Impact on local
communities, quality of life ; Benefits to
disadvantaged groups

b) Economic components:
• Creation for new markets and opportunities for sale
growth ; • Cost reduction through efficiency and
improvements and reduced energy and raw material
inputs ; • Creation of additional value

c) Environmental components:
• Reduce waste, effluent generation, emission into
environment ; • Reduce impact on human health ; •  Components of sustainable development
Use of renewable raw material ; • Elimination of toxic
 Sustainable Development –Scope

 i) Building Blocks of Sustainability

 Participation of public:
 It emphasizes that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information.
 It stresses the need to change from old sector-centred ways of doing business to new approaches.
 broad public participation in decision-making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving
sustainable development

 Continuous Process- Journey

 sustainability is a continuous process which tells of a development of all aspects of human life affecting
sustenance (mainly food and water). It means:
 sustainability is a continually evolving process; and its 'journey' (the process of achieving
sustainability) is of course vitally important, but only as a means of getting to the destination (the
desired future state).
 However, the 'destination' of sustainability is not a fixed place in the normal sense that we
 Sustainable Development -Scope
 Sustainable Development lists
the following areas as coming
within scope of sustainable

ii) Green Development and Sustainable development

Development:
 Green development is generally
differentiated from sustainable
development in the sense that the former
prioritizes what its proponents consider to be
environmental sustainability over
economic and cultural considerations.

 Sustainable measures:
 During the last ten years, different
organizations have tried to measure and
monitor those in proximity to what they
consider sustainability by implementing what
 Sustainable Development - Scope

iii) Real Purpose (Agenda) of Sustainability Development

 the real purpose of sustainable development is to contain and limit economic
development in developing countries, and in so doing control population growth.

 It is suggested that this is the reason the main focus of most programmes is still on low-
income agriculture.

 Sustainable development is said to set limits on the developing world. While current
first world countries polluted significantly during their development, the same countries
encourage third world countries to reduce pollution, which sometimes impedes growth
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

 Dimension:

 sustainable development is a multidimensional concept, involving no less than four

dimensions. A fifth dimension i.e. ICT (digital dimension) is added

 Basically, sustainable development has four main pillars (dimensions) –

A. social,

B. economic,

C. environmental

D. and institution
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

A) Social Dimension
 Social sustainability is one aspect of sustainable development. Social sustainability encompasses human
rights, labour rights and corporate governance.

 Social sustainability is the idea that future generations should have the same or greater access to social
resources as the current generation. Social resources include ideas as broad as basic human rights and all
other cultures.

 Development is considered to be socially sustainable when it achieves social justice via equitable resource
allocation, eradicates poverty and provides social services such as education, health, etc., to all members of the
society, especially the most needy ones.

 Sustainability issues are generally expressed in scientific and environmental terms, but implementing
change is a social challenge that entails, among other things, international and national law, urban planning
and transport, local and individual lifestyles and ethical consumerism
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

B) Economic Dimension
 Economically, sustainability means providing economic welfare to people at present and in the future,
while paying more attention to the "natural capital".
 Natural capital can be defined as the world’s stocks of natural assets which include geology, soil, air,
water and all living things. It is from this natural capital that humans derive a wide range of services,
often called ecosystem services, which make human life possible.
 It means and includes the natural resources of economic value, considered as the bases for the
economic system, such as plants, soil, animals, fish; and bio-environmental system such as air
and water purification.
 Sustainability, thus, interfaces with economics through the social and ecological consequences of
economic activity. Sustainability economics represents a broad interpretation of ecological economics
where environmental and ecological variables and issues are basic but part of a multidimensional
perspective.
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

 Ecological economics: It's not trying to be a subdiscipline of economics or a subdiscipline of ecology, but really it's
a bridge across not only ecology and economics but also psychology, anthropology, archaeology, and history. It
attempts to get a more integrated picture of how humans have interacted with their environment in the past and how
they might interact in the future. It’s an attempt to look at humans embedded in their ecological life-support system,
not separate from the environment. It also has some design elements, in the sense of how do we design a sustainable
future.? It’s not just analysis of the past but applies that analysis to create something new and better.

 Environmental economics: Environmental economics is a subdiscipline of economics, so it's applying standard

economic thinking to the environment. Mainstream economics, focusing largely on markets
 The Ecological Footprint measures how
fast we consume resources and generate
waste compared to how fast nature can
Dimensions of Sustainable Development absorb our waste and generate resources.

B) Economic Dimension
The numbers shown in the Fig. show
Example: WESTERN LIFESTYLES relative differences in resource use and
waste
 At present, the average per capita consumption of people production by different countries and
in the developing world is sustainable but population geographical areas.
numbers are increasing and individuals are aspiring to high
consumption -Western lifestyles.
 The developed world population is increasing only
slightly but consumption levels are unsustainable
 Issue:
 Western consumption while raising the standard of
living of the developing world by increasing its resource Fig. : Natural capital use and degradation:
depletion and environmental impact. Relative per capita ecological
footprints of the United States, Netherlands and,
 Solution: India. (Left) By 2001,
Humanity’s ecological footprint was about 21%
 This must be done by using strategies and technology higher than the earth’s ecological
that break the link between economic growth on the one capacity.(right) (Data from World Wide Fund for
Nature, UN Environmental
hand, and on the other, environmental damage and Programme, and Global Footprint Network)
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

C) Environmental Dimension
 Meaning:
 An ecologically sustainable system maintains a solid base of natural resources and avoids excessive use of such
resources.

 This involves the conservation of biodiversity, attaining atmospheric balance, productivity of soil as well as
other systems of natural environment which are usually classified as non-economic resources.

 Solution:
 In tackling sustainable development problems, environmentalists tend to focus on what is known as "environment
borders".

 As a concept it means that each natural environment system has certain limits that should not be exceeded
by excessive consumption, or else a deterioration in natural system is irrevocable and inevitable.

 Therefore, from an environmental point of view, sustainability means setting limits for consumption,
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

C) Environmental Dimension
 Benefits:
 Healthy ecosystems provide vital goods and services to humans and other organisms.

 Methods to reduce the negative human impact:

 There are two major ways of reducing negative human impact and enhancing ecosystem
services

 1) Environmental management:
 This direct approach is based largely on information gained from earth science,
environmental science and conservation biology.
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

C) Environmental Dimension
2) Management of human consumption of resources:
 It is an indirect approach based largely on information gained from economics.

 Herman Daly (1973) has suggested three broad criteria for ecological sustainability:

 renewable resources should provide a sustainable yield (the rate of harvest should not exceed
the rate of regeneration);

 for non-renewable resources there should be equivalent development of renewable

substitutes; and

 waste-generation should not exceed the assimilative capacity of the environment.

 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

D) Institutional Dimension

 Meaning:
 The institutional dimension of sustainable development is concerned with the participation of all
community members in the decision-making process and the acquisition of the information
that affects their lives transparently and accurately.

 Organizations:
 It is also concerned with the organizations, such as councils and committees charged with the
implementation of various aspects of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
 Dimensions of Sustainable Development

E) Digital (ICT) Dimension

 Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are closely related to the abovementioned four
dimensions of sustainable development.

 The millennium development goals and the recommendations of the international summit for information
and communication technology held in Geneva in November, 2003 provided a suitable methodological
Framework on how to make use of ICT in achieving sustainable development.

 Therefore, the digital dimension has been added as a fifth dimension of sustainable development
 Models of Sustainable Development

MODELS
 The correlation among economy, ecology and
equality can be useful to develop a
sustainable society.

 Some models are very much helpful to

understand the concept of sustainability by
gathering, sharing and analysis of the data.
Three important models have been reported
to recognize the sustainable development.

 The multidimensional sustainable

development indicators (MSDI) which hold
the linkage among the economy of a community,
environment, and society are given herein
 Process of Sustainable Development

Process of sustainability
 Sustainable Development- Solutions of Economy

 For example, the main solution suggested is the inclusion of

the so-called “Circular Economy” in current and future
management plans.

 Linear economy and Circular economy:

 Linear economy: ( buy–use–waste),
 This theory has been developed in order to
encourage change in the general behavior of
public policies which adopted the concept of the
linear economy (i.e., buy–use–waste),

 Circular economy: ( buy-use-reuse- recycle/recover)

 introducing a few management steps to change the
end-of-life stage of resources, with the aim of
recovering and reusing something that is not

In a circular economy,
necessary at the waste does not exist and products and raw materials
current moment.
are (designed to be) reused as long and intensive as possible over and over
 Sustainable Development- Solutions of Economy

Green policy for circular economy:

 Thus, the reuse of recyclable materials,

 the inclusion of renewable energies,

 the treatment of wastewater for its reuse,

 the construction of new facilities adopting green

policies (reducing the energy consumption and improving

efficiencies),

 and the reuse of low-value materials,

 are all solutions that were recommended for the

enhancement of new economies in a sustainable

manner and by viable means.

 Principles/Premises of Sustainable
Development
Some of the principles/premises underlying the concept of sustainable development include the
following:

1) Sustainable development is an alternative design for development, which, by definition should be

environmentally benign and eco-friendly.

2) That the present generation should meet its needs without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs, i.e. to ensure that the productive assets available to future generations
are not unfairly diminished.

3) That those who enjoy the fruits of economic development today must not make future generations
worse-off by excessively degrading the Earth's exhaustible resources and polluting its ecology and
environment.

4) That there is a symbiotic relationship between consumerist human race and producer natural
systems.
 Principles/Premises of Sustainable
Development
6) That economic development which erodes natural capital is often not successful

7) That environmental mistakes of the past need not be repeated, as the past-patterns of environmental degradation
are not inevitable.

8) That development is not growth only, it should stand for broader goals of social transformations.

9) That sustainable development in the long run has to do with ecology, resources and people, along with their
service agencies, institutions and other aspects of their social organization.

10) That sustainable development has two major aspects - internally sustainable development and externally sustainable
development - without both, no real sustainable development would exist.

11) That sustainable development is largely accountable to the poor, and hence, it should ensure that the poor have
adequate access to sustainable and secure livelihoods.
 Concerns of Sustainable Development

Concerns For Sustainable Development

 The current concern for sustainable development is rooted in the firm realization that the bounties of
nature are drying up and there is going likely to be an acute scarcity of basic resources.

 If timely action is not taken the time will run out, and we will sit on an ash-pile of degraded
environment.

 ‘The critiques of development, also ring the alarming bells, not only for conveniently ignoring the
environmental considerations in the development planning but also for the distortions of
development, i.e. unjust and inequitable development.
 Concerns of Sustainable Development

The facts they (critiques) present are highly  Question - ‘development for whom‘
disturbing:
 More than 200 million people in the country live
 Honest Answer:
below the poverty line
 Critiques development has failed the poor,
 More than 200 million people have no access to
and they need a development which is
safe drinking water.
participatory, equitable and infused with
 More than 500 million people have no access to
strong considerations of social justice.
proper sanitation.
 More than 150 million people are without proper
 Labels of such a development - sustainable
shelter.
or whatever -do not matter to the poor;
 More than 500 million people are illiterate.
what matters to them is the equitability,
 More than a million children die each year before call it sustainability, if one likes.
they see their first birthday.
 Concerns of Sustainable Development

The concerns are essentially related to:

 global and transnational nature of threats (for example, climate change, ozone layer depletion, etc);

 degradation of natural habitats (for example, forests and other eco-systems);

 a depletion of non-renewable natural resources (for example, stock of water, soil, minerals, wilderness areas);

 diminution of land for agricultural purposes;

 migration of people from rural to urban areas;

 pollution of rivers, ponds and other water sources; and

 environmental pollution in urban industrial areas, especially in large cities.

 Good Vision of Sustainable Development

Good Vision of Sustainable Development:

1) Recognizing the Complementarily of Economic Development and Sound Environmental

Management:

 Without adequate environmental protection, development will be undermined (erode the base); and,
without development, environmental protection will fail.

 Across the globe, there is growing consensus that policies of both economic growth and
environmental management are not much in conflict with each other; they are more often
complimentary.

 Solution:
 Good economic policies are good environment policies and vice versa, says World
Development Report
 Good Vision of Sustainable Development

2) Planning and Providing for the Basic Needs of the Poor:

 The poor depend on the environment for their livelihood and sustenance.

 They have to meet their urgent, short-term needs by preying upon the natural resources available
in their surrounding environment.

 They care more about extracting what they can do today from environmental resources than
about conserving them for tomorrow; the result is often the very opposite of sustainability with
excessive exploitation of their natural habitat.

 Solution:
 Alleviating poverty is both a moral imperative and a requisite for environmental
sustainability
 Good Vision of Sustainable Development

3) Dovetailing Development Planning with Measures Aimed at Population

Control:
 rapid population growth is a serious constraint for sustainable
development. Population growth off-sets development gains

 Rapid population growth puts too much pressure on precious natural

resources like water, air, energy, forests, land and ecology.

 Population growth also increases the demand for goods and services,
and thus, implies increased use of natural resources that cause environmental
damage. Natural capital degradations. Some
harmful result of poverty (WHO)

 More people not only consume more resources but also produce more
wastes, threatening local health conditions and stress putting additional on
earth assimilative capacity.


 Good Vision of Sustainable Development

4) Making Considerations for 'Social Justice’ Enter into Strategies of Sustained Economic
Growth:

 Sustainable development has been viewed "as a development with a humane face", a
development that humanizes (more civilized) rather than dehumanizes. It has also been
viewed as a development that puts the last first.

 In short, sustainable development is equitable development, the development that does not
bypass the poor, and does not deceive the disadvantaged.

 It is the development that takes due care of the weakest and the most deprived: a
development that is economically more just, more humane and that which promotes human
welfare.
 Good Vision of Sustainable Development

5) Attending to Problems Created by Accelerated Pace of Industrialization and Urbanization:

 there is no dispute about the need for industrialization, the cause of worry is the environmental
degradation on a frightening scale. The industrial units, no matter big or small, are pollutant in nature.

 Besides problems of pollution, there is another awesome problem of industrial growth, namely, the
problem of "project displaced persons" (PDPs).

 There are many instances of development projects -factories, mines and dams -that have resulted in bringing
untold misery to poor people whose land has been acquired in the name of 'public interest' without paying
adequate market price.

 displacement and human sacrifices are always unavoidable in economic development.

 Solution:
 robust revival of village-based small and medium cottage industries and highest priority to