Environmental Sustainability and Development
Sustainable development can only be attained by protecting
the environment and the judicious use of natural resources.
Countries both rich and poor have an equal stake in this stewardship
of the earth. The very survival of our planet depends upon
it.
Fifteen percent of the world’s population accounts for
56 percent of the world’s total resources consumption.
The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts
for only 11 percent of consumption.
The strain on resources varies depending on locale. For example,
in Rwanda, 60 percent of the population lives below the poverty
line. Ninety percent depend on subsistence agriculture for
survival, and just 2 percent have access to electricity.
Despite increasing awareness of resources, energy consumption
is expected to increase at a rate of 2 percent per year until
2020. At the current rate of consumption and production levels,
we are living beyond our means at approximately 25 percent
higher than the earth’s sustainable carrying capacity.
While the developed world poses its threat through the rate
of consumption of fossil fuels, with resulting changes in
the earth’s climate through emissions of carbon dioxide,
poor, rural populations rely on local resources for survival,
often leading to a lack of resource management, and subsequent
deforestation and topsoil erosion, leaving regions even more
vulnerable to damage caused by natural disasters, such as
floods or earthquakes.
Nowhere is the issue of sustainable development more focused
than on the issue of clean water and sanitation. The issue
is as vital in rural communities as it is in urbanized centers.
Water is life and one of the planet’s most sought after
resources. Today some 1.1 billion people in developing countries
have inadequate access to water and 2.6 billion lack basic
sanitation. Twenty liters (5.2 gallons) per person per day
is considered the minimum threshold requirement to meet basic
needs. Most of the people classified as having inadequate
access to water use about 5 liters (1.3 gallons) a day. On
average people in the United States use more than 400 liters
(105.6 gallons) for drinking, washing and flushing toilets.
Considerable progress has been made between 1990 and 2002
in improved drinking water. In 1990 drinking water sources
had improved for 7.9 percent of the world’s population.
By 2002 about 1.1 billion additional people or about 83 percent
had access to better water.
This vital resource is directly linked to food production,
poverty and health. Reduction of poverty is a leading strategy
for making individuals active participants in the process
of protecting the environment.
PCI-Media Impact programming can be an effective
means for changing long-standing behaviors or techniques in
rural communities where antiquated farming methods, land clearing
techniques or lack of sanitation facilities are affecting
water quality or creating potential environmental hazards.
Modernization and change can be a slow process. However, informally
introducing new concepts to a large audience increases the
likelihood of acceptance by a few individuals. Once initial
success is witnessed, a larger portion of the population is
more likely to accept and practice a new technique. Changing
behavior one person at a time creates a ripple effect of progress.
Dripping taps in rich countries lose more water than is
available each day to more than 1 billion people.
United Nations Human Development
Report 2006
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