No one doubts the importance and “good will” behind terms “sustainability” and “sustainable development” however, it is rather one of these ambiguous terms being used and abused by everybody for various goals or intentions. Words such as “sustainability”, “democracy” and “terrorism” are typical examples where everybody seems to agree on theory or definition but yet differ 180 degrees when it comes to the application or reality. Different individuals, disciplines, countries, and regions have different views, perspectives, agenda and plans if any for the sustainability of their environment if not for the entire world.
Ironically, drawing the world’s attention to the term (i.e. sustainability) is in itself an achievement. The term was first used in 1980 in the World Conservation Strategy of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN et al., 1980)(Bill Hopwood, Mary Mellor & Geoff O’Brien,2005). The term has been cleverly expressed in Brundtland’s report since it touched upon all sensitive zones that would provoke the homo sapiens’ species. Nothing more important to us humans than the social and economic aspects and the environment we live in.
The definition stated: “Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”(Bill Hopwood, MaryMellor & Geoff O’Brien,2005).It has been more than 35 years now since the definition was first introduced and yet many parts of theworld are still sunk in conflicts, poverty, pollution, inequality and on the brink of reaching an irreversibleclimate change.
So, one may ask why have we (Homo sapiens) not done enough? Have we had enough conferences to address our concerns and seek the necessary sustainable measures? With regards to the conferences, in fact there have been many, not to mention the environmental conference held in Stockholm in 1972 which was even held before the IUCN and was considered by many experts as the foundation for the successive conferences.
Post 1980, in 1983, the UN secretary general at the time requested Brundtland (Norway’s Prime Minister) to create an organization in order to address and raise awareness to the world’s development and negative impacts associated along with it, and provide suggestions on solutions. The organization which is also known as Brundland’s commission concluded to “Our Common Future” report in 1987. Few years later in 1992, was the “Earth Summit” in Rio De Janeiro where the “Rio Convention” included the adoption of the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC)(Sustainable Innovation Forum 2015).
Ten years after Rio was the UN Conference on Environment and Development in South Africa and three years ago, in 2012, was “Rio+20” Conference in Brazil (Sustainable Innovation Forum 2015). There had also been, ever since 1995, annual conferences to review Rio’s convention’s implementation. Key conferences were the COP3 where the renowned Kyoto Protocol was adopted, COP11 where the Montreal Action Plan was produced and COP17 in Durban where the Green Climate Fund was created (Sustainable Innovation Forum 2015).
This year, yet to come coming December, is the COP21 that will be held in Paris. One of the main objectives of this conference is to have a legally binding agreement on climate with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C (Sustainable Innovation Forum 2015).
It is evident that there hasn’t been any shortages in conferences, yet again one would argue whether we have done enough on the ground and which approach works best when it comes to sustainability? These kinds of questions would evoke a wide range of views and perspectives from different individuals, decision makers, societies and countries for various factors and backgrounds. The explanation for having this spectrum of views rather lies within the presentation of the term.
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Date: Nov-2015