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What is sustainable What is sustainable development? development?

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Sustainable development is about living on planet Earth without taking more than can be naturally replaced.Having good health, good living conditions and economic wealth for all

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We cannot use the earth's resources and produce wastes without thinking about how it may cause problems now and in the future. Millions of people in the

world suffer from poor living conditions.

Picture WHO

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The Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Brundtland made a report to the UNShe was the first to bring together the ideas of social equality, economic growth and environmental protection under the name of 'sustainable development.‘ Quote'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.'

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Agenda 21 committed governments to seek ways to move towards a more sustainable future. This looked at social developments, such as reducing poverty, improving education and strengthening the representation of different groups such as youth, women and indigenous peoples. It also tackled environmental issues for example, individuals reducing their energy consumption and their emissions of carbon dioxide.

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Kyoto reached agreement between many countries about carbon emissions to be reached by 2012

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Needs and wants Needs and wants

Sustainable development looks to fulfil people's needsneeds without harming the chances of future generations.Think about the things that you need to survive. What are the things that you want to make your life more comfortable and enjoyable?Advances in technology can make products that meet people's needs more successfully than older ones.

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  I need I want

Car

Soft drinks

House

Medicines

Food

Water

Chocolate

Electricity

Television

Can everyone have the things that they want? Do some people lack things that they need?

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Measuring sustainable Measuring sustainable development development

Being able to measure and assess sustainability is an important step in achieving sustainable development There are different definitions of sustainable development. This means there are also different ways of looking at it."Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". World Commission on Environment and Development.

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"Sustainable development is a dynamic process which enables all people to realise their potential and to improve their quality of life in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the Earth's life support systems".Forum for the Future

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Ways of measuring Ways of measuring sustainabilitysustainability

Ecological footprintEcological footprint Measures the area of land and sea that a person needs to support their life-style.Life cycle analysis Life cycle analysis Takes an overall view of a process or activity. It assesses all aspects of the resources needed in production, use and disposal of products. Quality of life (Social indicators)Quality of life (Social indicators) Look at sustainability from the viewpoint of a person's standard of living. It may include measures of things like unemployment rates, access to education and healthcare as well as human rights and life-expectancy.

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Ecological SustainabilityEcological Sustainability

An ecological footprint measures how much of the Earth's resources a person uses each year. It shows this as the total area of biologically productive land and sea that is needed to support their lifestyle.The bigger a person's ecological footprint, the less sustainable is their lifestyle

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Living on borrowed time?The graph shows that the total ecological footprint for the Earth's population exceeds the ability for the planet to renew its resources quickly enough.This means that we are eating into irreplaceable resources. However, technological advances and human ingenuity may be able to overcome these problems in the future. For example, modern farming techniques can increase the productivity of land to produce more food.

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Ecological footprints of different Ecological footprints of different countries countries

Ecological footprints are measured in hectares (Ha). 1 hectare is an area of 100m x 100m.This is roughly two football pitches side-by-side.

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The graph shows the ecological footprints of people in different countries. It shows the inequalities between wealthy countries and developing nations. Current estimates are that the Earth can sustain a level of 2.3 hectares per person (green dotted line).

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Developed countries often have ecological footprints that are above 2.3 hectares per person. Currently, this level is not sustainable.Developing countries, like India, Thailand and Brazil, have a sustainable ecological footprint at the moment but that comes at a price. Poor health and poverty is more common in these countries. These problems need to be tackled and this will probably increase their ecological footprint.The challenge for the future is to meet all people's needs. Technology and economic sustainability will help to achieve this.

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As part of your homework As part of your homework find out about your carbon find out about your carbon

footprintfootprinthttp://www.bestfootforward.com/footprintlife.htm

You may like to ask a parent to

give you a hand!

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What do Ecological Footprints What do Ecological Footprints consider? consider?

Ecological footprints look at human activities. The table shows the types of activities that are usually considered. Each area is converted into an equivalent area of land or sea that is needed to support it. The total gives the ecological footprint.

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Growing crops and Growing crops and Grazing Grazing animalsanimals

Crops are grown for:– food– animal feed– fibres (e.g. cotton)– oil crops (e.g. sunflower oil)

About 1.3 billion hectares of arable farmland are available worldwide for the production of crops. Animals are produced for:– meat– hides (e.g. leather for clothing and shoes)– wool– milk

There are about 4.6 billion hectares of grazing land available worldwide.

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Wood and FishingWood and FishingTimber is used for:– fuel– building materials– paper production

There are about 3.3 billion hectares of forests worldwide. Fish and other marine foods are eaten by humans and a lot is also used in animal feeds. Most of the seas' productive area lies within a short distance of the coastline. This is just 8% of the total water surface on the Earth.

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Buildings and Burning fossil Buildings and Burning fossil fuels and Industrial production fuels and Industrial production Housing, roads, industrial production and other human activities all take up land area. An estimated 0.2 billion hectares are taken up like this.Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide. This is taken in by plants during photosynthesis. The area of plants needed to take in the carbon dioxide produced by an activity can be calculated. Modern life relies on many goods and each needs to be produced. This requires resources as well as energy. Increased efficiency, recycling and re-using materials can reduce the ecological footprint.

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Sustainable development and Sustainable development and innovationinnovation

Many LICs see that we need to try and reduce greenhouse emissions, but say right now they need to produce more – especially in places like China and India and other MICs who need power sources to run their factories – many of which depend on coal-fired power stations.

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Remember Esther BoserupRemember Esther Boserup

She is a Danish agricultural economist, who had a different idea about population. Do you remember what she believed?

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Sustainable development and Sustainable development and innovationinnovation

There are lots and lots of ideas out there about how people can get what they need without just giving in and using the usual technology with all its problems!

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Heat, sand, and lack of Heat, sand, and lack of fuel make it hard to fuel make it hard to

transport things in the transport things in the desert. desert.

How did health workers How did health workers deliver perishable deliver perishable

vaccines to people in the vaccines to people in the Sahara?Sahara?

If it is perishable, what do you

need?

How might it get to where it

is needed?

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Their solutionTheir solution

Solar-powered batteries were used to run small refrigerators. The refrigerators were taken by a camel caravan to remote desert health clinics. Solar-powered batteries can also run medical equipment such as X-ray machines, sterilizers, and dentist drills.

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How do some people who How do some people who live in remote areas get live in remote areas get

up-to-date news and up-to-date news and information even if they information even if they

don't have electricity and don't have electricity and can't buy batteries?can't buy batteries?

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Their solutionTheir solutionThere's a unique radio that uses muscle power instead of electric power-for 30 seconds of winding, you get 30 minutes of listening. Next to come may be wind-up computers!

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Many women and children in Many women and children in developing countries must developing countries must

spend hours each day spend hours each day fetching water for drinking, fetching water for drinking,

cooking, and cleaning. cooking, and cleaning. One town in South Africa One town in South Africa

found a unique way to adapt found a unique way to adapt hand pumps to make it much hand pumps to make it much easier and faster to get the easier and faster to get the

water they need.  water they need.  How did they do it?How did they do it?

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Their solutionTheir solutionThey attached the pumps to a merry-go-round on a public playground, so that when the kids run around the wheel, they drive a pump that sends water into a communal tank. Now the women have more time for other chores, and the children get to play

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The mountainous coast of The mountainous coast of northern Chile is one of northern Chile is one of the driest regions in the the driest regions in the

world. world. How did scientists and How did scientists and

local villagers there find a local villagers there find a way to get water for way to get water for

drinking and irrigation?drinking and irrigation?

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Their solutionTheir solution

Scientists created giant "fog catchers" made out of mesh netting. The nets capture tiny droplets of water from the fog that rolls in from the ocean every morning. Villagers use these nets to collect as much as 4000 litres of water a day.

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Rock Bands Plant ForestsRock Bands Plant ForestsThe Rolling Stones created a “carbon-neutral” concert tour by planting one tree for every 60 fans. Why? Carbon dioxide (CO2) is among the gasses that contribute to global warming. Buses, airplanes, cars, and most forms of transportation emit CO2 while trees help by absorbing CO2 and producing oxygen. The Rolling Stones worked with Future Forests, a company in London, to measure the CO2 emitted by their concert tour in the United Kingdom. By analyzing the band’s travel between gigs, travel by fans to and from shows, and the electricity required for the show, Future Forests calculated how many trees need to be planted to absorb the CO2 emitted by the concert tour. As a result, 2,800 trees were planted in Scotland.

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Rock Bands Plant ForestsRock Bands Plant Forests

Future Forests is also helping bands make their CD albums carbon-neutral. They measure the amount of CO2 created by the production, manufacture and distribution of an album and then the bands plant enough trees to re-absorb that CO2.Other bands working with Future Forests include Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Massive Attack, Atomic Kitten, and Pink Floyd

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HomeworkHomeworkYou have seen some of the activities that make your ecological footprint higher.I want you to think of one thing that could be done to reduce it, and meet your needs and those of future generations too.Imagine the local council has decided it wants to improve the ecological footprint of the residents. It has some funds to invest. Make a case for your scheme to be taken up by the town. What might it be about?