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This article provides information about the meaning of sustainable development:
The economic growth model of development, its adoption by most of the countries in the world and realisation of the consequences it produced in various forms of environmental degradation has provided the historical context for the rise of the development- environment debate.
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The economic growth model of development is characterised by the use of modern technology, the factory system of production and rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
The Western countries initially followed this model of development and prescribed it for the less developed ones. The predominant underlying belief was that the underdeveloped countries would eventually catch up with the industrialised countries, provided they emulate the economic and social systems of the West. The less developed countries adopted the western model of development rather uncritically.
The consequences of adoption of the western model of development by the less developed countries were not all positive. Economic growth occurred, but it was accompanied by a widened gulf between the countries in the North and the South, and it also helped to promote economic disparities between the rich and the poor sections within particular societies.
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It was realised that “development” conceived simply as “economic growth” was an inadequate notion, and that economic growth does not necessarily lead to the development of the lower strata of society. This realisation caused a shift in development thinking and eventually led to the inclusion of some additional criteria of development such as distributive justice or equity, and improvement in the overall quality of life of the masses.
It is realised that the reckless pursuit of industrialisation and the use of resource exploitative modern technology for development have resulted in environmental deterioration to such an extent that the very existence of all the living species is endangered. There is a general agreement that the economic expansion, especially during the post-war period, has had alarming consequences for the global environment. Industrialisation required a continuous supply of energy and materials from nature. It led to the constant accumulation of wastes that resulted from accelerated industrial production and increasing level of consumption.
There was a gradual deterioration of nature. The modern, industrial form of production induced increasingly severe degrees of social inequality and growing environmental instability and degradation… which, together, have more recently been conceptualised as the “crisis of modernity”.
The environmental degradation that has occurred is marked by a large-scale extraction of finite natural resources. Loss of forests, extinction of animal and plant species, depletion of the ozone layer, air, water and soil pollution, loss of marine life and biodiversity etc. have occurred at an alarming rate and have posed a serious threat to the very survival of life on this planet.
Due to the strategies adopted for economic growth, environmental degradation and exploitation of natural resources have become global phenomena. Eventually, the increasing awareness of environmental problems has led to the emergence of environmentalism. It is important to note that environmentalism has added an important dimension to the ongoing development discourse. In fact, it has caused a paradigm-shift in our vision of development.
It has compelled the intellectuals concerned to think about what is being done to the eco-system of this planet in the name of development. The worsening environmental situation has led to the re-examination and re-consideration of the policies, strategies and programmes for development. As a result, the environment-development debate emerged and became intensified in due course of time.
However, eventually, there also emerged an increased awareness about the fact that human beings need both “development” and “environment”. As Balletmus has expressed, there was “a growing recognition that the overall goals of environment and development are not in conflict but are indeed the same, namely, the improvement of human quality of life or welfare of the present and future generations”. Such thinking led to the view that “development” versus “environment” is a false dichotomy.
This view is well articulated in World Development Report 1992 — Development and the Environment. It is argued in this report that the, economic development and sound environmental management are complementary aspects of the same agenda. Without adequate environmental protection, development will be undermined; without development, environmental protection will fail…income growth will provide the resources for improved environmental management”.
In fact, such a view underscored the need of reconciliation between “development” and “environment”. The concept of “sustainable development”, as defined in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), titled “Our Common Future”, represents such an attempt to reconcile the goals of development as well as that of environmental protection.