According to a global definition identified in a 1987 report, sustainability is a “development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This means that this concept involves the improvement of individuals’ life without making the environment and the hopes for the future worse. Sustainability is made of three main pillars: environmental, economic and social considerations which should always be balanced amongst each other. The environmental pillar includes climate protection, meaning the protection of resources (what we need to survive and develop) and biodiversity (the different species and habitats around the world). Sustainability in the environment also represent the use of organic food, meaning food that is not grown with pesticides and where farm animals are treated well and are healthy. This pillar also includes trying to use only the necessary resources to limit the environmental impact. For example, to run cars we need petrol, but this resource is non-renewable, so one day it will run out. This is why we are looking for new sources of energy that will never run out, like solar or wind energy. The second pillar is business, like industries. To be sustainable, we should only buy products that come from our region and that are grown in that time period. Foods like Mangos from Brazil have to travel a lot before coming to us, which causes pollution. Finally, the third pillar is the social one, that is better education, opportunities for the future, equality, the eradication of poverty, etc… Our society has to develop and improve under these aspects as well as other ones, while considering the environmental and economic elements.
PROBLEM
There are some obstacles to reaching sustainable change, one of them being climate change. This phenomenon is the long-term change in weather patterns distribution around the world caused by natural factors (such as the difference in solar radiations received by Earth, volcanic eruptions, tectonic plates, etc.) as well as human activities. Climate change can be seen in global temperature rise (global warming), warmer oceans, melting glaciers and the reduction of ices sheets. Global warming involves the increase in our planet’s temperature, which has been of over 1-degree Fahrenheit since the 1800s. Moreover, rising temperature has devastating impacts: sea level rise (increasing flooding in coastal areas and putting communities and species at risk), more wildfires and longer wildfire-seasons, frequent and unexpected heat waves, negative health impacts (including breathing polluted air and intense allergy periods), and heavy precipitations and flooding. Focusing on sea level rise, ice is melting – especially on Earth’s Poles with mountain glaciers – and is expected to cause a rise of 10cm – 20cm by the end of the century, added to the already predicted rise of 18cm – 59cm.
LINK TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Goal 13 of the SDGs is Climate Action, and has to do with the reduction of planetary warning in order to protect ecosystems and species and avoid natural disasters. Therefore, addressing the impact of climate change to achieve sustainable growth also involves the protection of ecosystems and more predictable weather conditions.
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