ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Environmental Policy Essay

Environmental Policy Essay

What is meant by sustainable development?

Sustainable development is the process of change in which exploitation of natural resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, personal development and institutional changes are consistent with each other and strengthen the current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations. In many respects, it is about ensuring the quality of life of people (Beder, Sharon, 2006, p. 36).

In fact, we cannot go for an immediate cessation of economic growth in general, and to terminate at the first stage, the growth of unsustainable use of environmental resources. Last difficult in a world of increasing competition, the growth of the current indicators of economic activity as a successful performance and profits. At the same time, the transition to the "information society" - the economy of intangible flows of finance, information, images, messages, and intellectual property - leads to the so-called "dematerialization" of economic activity: now exceeds the volume of financial transactions volume of trade of material goods by 7 times. New economy move is not only shortage of material (and natural) resources, but, increasingly, an abundance of resources and knowledge (Beder, Sharon, 2006, p. 36). Energy density of economic activity continues to decline, although the total energy consumption while increasing.

The vast majority of international organizations of the UN have included in its activities a significant environmental component that focuses on the transition to sustainable development. World Bank experts have identified sustainable development as a process of managing a set of (portfolio) of assets, aimed at maintaining and expanding opportunities available to people (Beder, Sharon, 2006, p. 36). Assets in this definition include not only the traditionally counted up physical capital, but also natural and human capital. To be sustainable, development must ensure the growth - or at least undiminished - in time all of these assets (and not only economic growth!). For the management, of the economy of the country apply the same logic that used for the management of personal property.

In accordance with this definition of sustainable development the main indicator of sustainability developed by the World Bank, are "the true rate (rate) savings" or "the true rate of investment "in the country. Now adopted approaches to measuring the accumulation of wealth do not account for depletion and degradation of natural resources such as forests and oil fields, on the one hand, and on the other - investment in people - one of the most valuable asset of any country. In the transition, to the calculation of the true rate of savings (investment), this shortcoming corrected adjustment calculated by traditional methods the rate of savings: downward - by assessing the depletion of natural resources and pollution damage to the environment (loss of natural capital), and upwards - by taking into account increasing human capital (primarily due to investment in education and primary health care) (Earthscan, 2005, p. 23-25).

Document The Earth Charter born as a result of a six-year international dialogue to develop a universal goals and ...