SGWGS

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Unit I Introduction - 10  

• Sustainable Development Concepts and Principles
• Evolution of Sustainable Development Agenda
• Livelihood Approach to Sustainable Development
• Relationship between Sustainable Development and
  Climate Change.

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1.1 Sustainable Development Concepts and
Principles

• What is Development?
• Generally Development is the gradual growth of a
  situation that becomes more advanced and strong
  than previous one.
• Development is intended to bring a positive
  change for human being and its surroundings.
  Development may take place by bringing about a
  change in policy, projects and legislation.
• Development is a unfolding of human potentials
  for meaningful participation in economic, social,
  political and cultural process and institutions,
  so that people can improve their conditions.

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• Sustainable means the capacity to continue
  into the distant future.
• There should be a) an action, b) a time
  dimension, and c) the level of action should not
  decrease.
• Sustainable development present type of
  economic development is not sustainable, as it
  depletes natural resources and increases
  pollution.
• If continued on the same path, the Earth will run
  out of natural resources, and pollution destroy
  the ecology of the Earth.

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Definition of Sustainable Development

• Brundtland, defined Sustainable development as
  development that meets the needs of the present
  generation, without compromising the ability of
  future generations to meet their own needs.
  Our Common Future 1987.
• Contains two key concepts
• Poverty Focus the needs of the worlds poor to
  which high priority should be given.
• Futures Focus limits imposed by technology and
  social organization on environments ability to
  meet present and future needs.

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• The concept of sustainable development aims to
  maintain economic advancement and progress while
  protecting the long-term value of the
  environment it provides a framework for the
  integration of environment policies and
  development strategies

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• The concept of conserving resources for future
  generations is one of the major features that
  distinguish sustainable development policy from
  traditional environmental policy.
• The overall goal of sustainable development (SD)
  is the long-term stability of the economy and
  environment this is only achievable through the
  integration and acknowledgement of economic,
  environmental, and social concerns throughout the
  decision-making process.

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Sustainable development is often illustrated by a
simple diagram showing three overlapping circles
representing social, economic and environmental
progress (Tripple Bottom Line)
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A Fourth Pillar

• cultural diversity is as necessary for
  humankind as biodiversity is for nature.
  sustainable development cannot be understood
  simply in terms of economic growth, but also as
  a means to achieve a more satisfactory
  intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual
  existence.

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• This has been expanded by some authors to include
  a fourth pillar of culture, institutions or
  governance.
• In this context, the Agenda 21 for culture and
  the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
  Executive Bureau lead the preparation of the
  policy statement "Culture Fourth Pillar of
  Sustainable Development", passed on 17 November
  2010, in the framework of the World Summit of
  Local and Regional Leaders  3rd World Congress
  of UCLG, held in Mexico City.

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• This document inaugurates a new perspective and
  points to the relation between culture and
  sustainable development through a dual approach
  developing a solid cultural policy and advocating
  a cultural dimension in all public policies.
• The Circles of Sustainability approach
  distinguishes the four domains of economic,
  ecological, political and cultural
  sustainability.

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• Objectives of Sustainable Development
• Reviving growth
• Changing the quality of growth
• Meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy,
  water and sanitation
• Ensuring the sustainable level of population
• Conserving and enhancing the resource base
• Merging environment and economic decision making
• To inform technology and managing risk, etc.

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• On the basis of various Scholars the objectives
  of Sustainable Development can be categorized
  as
• 1. Social progress and equality,
• 2. Environmental protection,
• 3. Conservation of natural resources and
• 4. Stable economic growth.

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Principles of Sustainable Development

• ..The guiding principle of sustainable
  development is development that meets the needs
  of the present without compromising the ability
  of future generations to meet their own needs

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Normative Principles of Sustainable Development

• Common but differentiated responsibilities
• Inter-generational equity (justice between
  generations children, youth and adult)
• Intra-generational equity (equity between same
  generation)
• Justice
• Participation
• Gender equality

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• The three key principles for sustainable
  development are
• economic,
• environmental, and
• social sustainability

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The six principles of sustainability can help a
community ensure that its social, economic, and
environmental systems are well integrated and
will endure.
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At last, the importance of SD can be categorized
into following points

• Proper use of resources
• People's participation
• Accountability
• Long term vision
• Limits of development
• Development of basic aspect

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Unfortunately, no common consensus among
countries over the mode and type of sustainable
development to be achieved.

• Who sets the values or standards for sustainable
  development? Rich countries or poor countries?
• What are these values and norms? Are they
  universally acceptable?
• How and who should implement them?
• How should they be implemented?
• At what level should they be implemented?

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The UK government, for example, proposed a five
principle approach incorporating good governance
and sound science
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The concept of SD can in core be summarized as

• Maintenance and sustainable utilization of the
  functions (goods and services) provided by
  natural ecosystems and bio spheric processes..
• Maximizing the biological system goals (genetic
  diversity, resilience, biological production),
  economic system goals (meeting basic minimum
  needs, equity), and social system goals (social
  justice, people's participation) simultaneously.
• Improving the quality of human life while living
  within the carrying capacity of supporting
  eco-systems.

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1.2 Evolution of Sustainable Development Agenda

• The concept of sustainable development started to
  appear in the 1970s.
• The reason behind the emergence of such a concept
  was the growing awareness of the depletion of
  natural resources, and worsening environmental
  conditions on the one hand and increasing world
  population on the other hand, i.e., demand-supply
  differences.

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• 1972
• In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the
  Human Environment held in Stockholm brought the
  industrialized and developing nations together to
  delineate the rights of the human family to a
  healthy and productive environment.
• A series of such meetings followed, e.g. on the
  rights of people to adequate food, to sound
  housing, to safe water, to access to means of
  family planning. The recognition to revitalize
  humanitys connection with Nature, led to the
  creation of global institutions within the UN
  system.

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• 1980
• In 1980, the International Union for the
  Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN)
  published the World Conservation Strategy (WCS)
  which provided a precursor to the concept of
  sustainable development.
• The Strategy asserted that conservation of nature
  cannot be achieved without development to
  alleviate poverty and misery of hundreds of
  million of people and stressed the
  interdependence of conservation and development
  in which development depends on caring for the
  Earth.
• Unless the fertility and productivity of the
  planet are safeguarded, the human future is at
  risk.

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• 1982
• Ten years later, at the 48th plenary of the
  General Assembly in 1982, the World Conservation
  Strategy (WCS) initiative culminated with the
  approval of the World Charter for Nature. The
  Charter stated that "mankind is a part of nature
  and life depends on the uninterrupted functioning
  of natural systems".

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• 1983
• In 1983, the World Commission on Environment and
  Development (WCED) was created and, by 1984, it
  was constituted as an independent body by the
  United Nations General Assembly.
• WCED was asked to formulate A global agenda for
  change.
• In 1987, in its report Our Common Future, the
  WCED advanced the understanding of global
  interdependence and the relationship between
  economics and the environment previously
  introduced by the WCS.
• The report wove together social, economic,
  cultural and environmental issues and global
  solutions.

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• 1992
• In June 1992, the first UN Conference on
  Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in
  Rio de Janeiro and adopted an agenda for
  environment and development in the 21st Century.
• Agenda 21 A Programme of Action for Sustainable
  Development contains the Rio Declaration on
  Environment and Development, which recognizes
  each nations right to pursue social and economic
  progress and assigned to States the
  responsibility of adopting a model of sustainable
  development and, the Statement of Forest
  Principles. Agenda 21 further reaffirmed that
  sustainable development was delimited by the
  integration of the economic, social and
  environmental pillars.
• The spirit of the conference was captured by the
  expression "Harmony with Nature", brought into
  the fore with the first principle of the Rio
  Declaration "Human beings are at the center of
  concerns for sustainable development. They are
  entitled to a healthy and productive life in
  harmony with nature".

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• 1993
• In 1993, UNCED instituted the Commission on
  Sustainable Development (CSD) to follow-up on the
  implementation of Agenda 21.

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• 1997
• In June 1997, the General Assembly dedicated its
  19th Special Session (UNGASS-19) to design a
  "Programme for the Further Implementation of
  Agenda 21".

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• 2002
• In 2002, ten years after the Rio Declaration, a
  follow-up conference, the World Summit on
  Sustainable Development (WSSD) was convened in
  Johannesburg to renew the global commitment to
  sustainable development. The conference agreed on
  the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI)
  and further tasked the CSD to follow-up on the
  implementation of sustainable development

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• 2009
• On 24th December 2009 the UN General Assembly
  adopted a Resolution agreeing to hold the United
  Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
  (UNCSD) in 2012 - also referred to as 'Rio20' or
  'Rio 20'. The Conference seeks three objectives
  securing renewed political commitment to
  sustainable development, assessing the progress
  and implementation gaps in meeting already agreed
  commitments, and addressing new and emerging
  challenges. The Member States have agreed on the
  following two themes for the Conference green
  economy within the context of sustainable
  development and poverty eradication, and
  institutional framework for sustainable
  development

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2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference

• COP 25 (3-23 December 2019), Madrid, Spain
• Also known as COP25 (UNFCCC)
• COP stands for Conference of the Parties, all
  will be attended by countries that signed the
  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
  Change (UNFCCC) a treaty agreed in 1994

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2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference
(UNCCC)

• Also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations
  Climate Change conference
• Scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from
  1-12th November 2021

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2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference
(UNCCC)

• The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference
  or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more
  commonly referred to as COP27, was 27th United
  Nations Climate Change conference
• 6th November to 18th November 2022
• Sharm el Sheikh Egypt
• Together for Implementation with a view to
  renewing and extending the climate goals as
  agreed under the Paris Agreement and the
  Convention

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• The founder of the International Institute for
  Environment and Development (IIED, 1972), Barbara
  Ward was a pioneering economist, writer and
  lecturer. She was one of the first people to
  articulate the concept of sustainable development
  and what was needed to underpin it, and
  her vision still inspires IIED's work today.
• Early champion of sustainable development
• Environmental campaigners know Ward for her book
  "Only One Earth The Care and Maintenance of a
  Small Planet". 
• In this book, published in 1972, she writes of
  the need "clearly to define what should be done
  to maintain the earth as a place suitable for
  human life not only now, but also for future
  generations". This is generally considered the
  first and best definition of the concept of
  sustainable development.

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1.3 Livelihood Approach to Sustainable Development

• The dictionary definition of livelihood is a
  means to living
• Livelihood is a term that we use in everyday
  life, and we probably all have deferring ideas
  about its meaning.
• A livelihood is a means of making a living. It
  encompasses peoples capabilities, assets, income
  and activities required to secure the necessities
  of life.

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• Rural livelihood is defined as the
  capabilities, assets and activities that rural
  people require for a means of living.
• A livelihood is sustainable when it enables
  people to cope with and recover from shocks and
  stresses (such as natural disasters and economic
  or social upheavals) and enhance their well-being
  and that of future generations without
  undermining the natural environment or resource
  base.

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Components and Assets of Rural Livelihood

• A livelihood comprises the assets ( natural,
  physical, human, financial and social capital),
  the activities and the access to these (mediated
  by institutions and social relations), that
  together determine the living gained by the
  individual of household. (Chamber and Conway,
  1992)
• Assets is "a wide range of tangible and
  intangible stores of value or claims to
  assistance". In other words assets can be
  converted into resources when necessary, in day
  to day living as well as in a situation of
  crisis.

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• For instance, experience can be an asset. It
  becomes a resource when people apply it to a new
  situation, using their cognitive skills to do so.
  Livestock is an asset when it is kept for its
  value. It can be converted into money when the
  need arises. Livestock is a resource when used in
  agricultural and domestic production.
  Biodiversity at farm level is an asset. It
  becomes a resource when it is purposively used in
  agriculture and food production.

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• What is sustainable livelihood approach?
• The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) is a
  method of analyzing and changing the lives of
  people experiencing poverty and disadvantage. It
  is a participatory approach based on the
  recognition that all people have abilities and
  assets that can be developed to help them improve
  their lives.

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• The inputs to the livelihood system are resources
  and assets. Resources can be seen as immediate
  means needed for livelihood generation. Engberg
  (1990) distinguishes several types of resources
• Human Resources, which are needed to provide
  productive labor, and which consist of cognitive
  skills, psychomotor skills, emotional skills,
  social skills and physical strength
• Material Resources, such as land, money,
  livestock, agricultural tools, space, facilities
  (e.g. household water supply), means of
  communication and transport etc
• Environmental Resources, which can be divided
  into resources in the physical environment (both
  natural and man-made) and resources in the
  socio-institutional environment (such as markets,
  kinship networks etc.).

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DFID Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF)
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• DFID framework outlines assets in terms of five
  categories necessary for the pursuit of positive
  livelihood outcomes
• Human capital amount and quality of knowledge
  and labor available in a household
• Natural capital the quality and quantity of
  natural resource, ranging from fisheries to air
  quality
• Financial capital
• Social capital
• Physical capital

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• Human capital, e.g., health, nutrition,
  education, knowledge and skills, capacity to
  work, capacity to adapt
• Social capital, e.g., networks and connections
  (patronage, neighborhoods, kinship), relations of
  trust and mutual understanding and support,
  formal and informal groups, shared values and
  behaviors, common rules and sanctions, collective
  representation, mechanisms for participation in
  decision-making, leadership
• Natural capital, e.g., land and produce, water
  and aquatic resources, trees and forest products,
  wildlife, wild foods and ?bers, biodiversity,
  environmental services
• Physical capital, e.g., infrastructure
  (transport, roads, vehicles, secure shelter and
  buildings, water supply and sanitation, energy,
  communications), tools and technology (tools and
  equipment for production, seed, fertilizer,
  pesticides, traditional technology)
• Financial capital, e.g., savings, credit and debt
  (formal, informal), remittances, pensions, wages

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• A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets
  (including both material and social resources)
  and activities required for a means of living. A
  livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with
  and recover from stresses and shocks, maintain or
  enhance its capabilities and assets, while not
  undermining the natural resource base.

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• The sustainable livelihoods approach is a way of
  thinking about the objectives, scope, and
  priorities for development activities.

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1.4 Relationship between Sustainable Development
and Climate Change

• The link between climate change and sustainable
  development are strong. Poor and developing
  countries, particularly least developed
  countries, will be among those most adversely
  affected and least able to cope with the
  anticipated shocks to their social, economic and
  natural systems

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• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
  Change ( UNFCCC) defined Climate Change as "a
  change of climate which is attributed directly or
  indirectly to human activity that alters the
  composition of the global atmosphere and which is
  in addition to natural climate variability
  observed over comparable time periods.

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• However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
  Change(IPCC) definition of Climate Change
  includes change due to natural variability
  alongside human activity.
• a change in the state of the climate that can be
  identified by changes in the means and/or
  variability of its properties that persists for
  an extended period, typically decades or longer.
• Thus, climate change refers to any change in
  climate over time, whether due to natural
  variability or as a result of human activity.

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• How does climate change affect sustainability?
• Climate change caused by the global increase in
  temperatures triggers multiple negative effects
  on the planet. These effects interrelate with
  each other and increase their violence, putting
  at risk the species that inhabit the Earth,
  including the humans

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• Climate change does not yet feature prominently
  within the environmental or economic policy
  agendas of developing countries. Yet evidences
  shows that some of the most adverse effects of
  climate change will be in developing countries,
  where population are most vulnerable and least
  likely to easily adapt to climate change.

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• Just as biodiversity sustains the ecosystem,
  cultural diversity, social capital, social
  institutions, the shared conceptions of justice,
  mutual trust, and the equity of social choices
  sustain the social system.

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• The two main human impacts on the carbon cycle
  are Burning of fossil fuels.
• Land use and land cover change (e.g.
  deforestation)

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Climate Change Impacts

• climate change can alter rainfall, influence crop
  yields, affect human health, cause changes to
  forests and other ecosystems, and even impact our
  energy supply. Climate-related impacts are
  occurring across the country and over many
  sectors of our economy.

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• Agriculture
• Coast
• Ecosystem
• Energy
• Forests
• Human health
• Society
• Transportation
• Water resources

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• What is extreme events?
• there are various ways to characterize extreme
  events. A widely used concept is return
  period. This is the frequency at which the event
  occur. In IPCC report, an event occurring once in
  20 years has been designated an extreme event.

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Some Extreme phenomena are

• Extreme warm and cold days
• Hottest days
• Heat waves
• Heavy precipitation
• Tropical cyclone and storms activity
• Droughts
• Extreme coastal high waters
• Patterns of natural variability
  (unpredictability)

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Some questions

• Define sustainable development along with its
  major features. Explain its relevancy in present
  day development practices.
• Write note on sustainable development goal
  (SDGs). Critically evaluate the challenges for
  implementation of SDGs in Nepal.
• Define livelihood and sustainable livelihood.
• Trace out the historical context of evolution of
  concept of sustainable development.