II Sustainable Development GeES3011

3/23/2022
By: Amanuel Mekonnen (MA)
2022
Samara, Afar, Ethiopia
Chapter Outline
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development
2.3 Principles of Sustainable Development
2.4 Indicators of Sustainable Development
2.5 Sustainable Development Goals
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Introduction
2.1 Introduction
• relationship between environment and development is always at the
heart of sustainable development.
• Environment is considered to include those bio-physical resources and

conditions on which human lives and activities depend, and which in
turn they influence.
• Environment functions: ecological, economic, social and intrinsic value

in cultural, ethical and spiritual terms.
• Livelihood of more than half of the economically active population in

the developing world depends on the environment
• Environmental quality strongly affects, and is affected by, economic

development.
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2.1 Introduction
Ecosystem services are essential to
safeguard livelihood
• The environment and natural

resources provide a number of
services that are essential to secure
human subsistence and quality of
life,
• The intrinsic value of the

environment as a spiritual element
also plays a major role.
• These functions are especially

important in developing countries
• Cultural values and identity have a

close bearing on environmental
aspects, especially in rural areas.
2.1 Introduction
Poor people in rural areas and the Environment
• many people depend directly on ecosystem services as a basis for their
subsistence and income.
• Especially in rural areas, agriculture and forestry are the only source of food
security and livelihood.
• In many cases, there are no alternatives available
• Their heavy dependence makes the poor vulnerable to the adverse impacts
of resource destruction and degradation.
• Desertification, deforestation and the loss of biodiversity have a direct

effect on food security, income and livelihoods.
• More than a billion people today already live in areas impaired by soil
erosion and degradation.
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2.1 Introduction
Women and the Environment
• Both men and women consume, use and manage natural

resources.
• But women face particular difficulties
• Degradation of forests, water resources and land has direct effects

on women’s workload and available time (responsibility for water,
food, fodder and energy).
• When ecosystem services are degraded, the time poverty or

workload of women also increases,
• mostly at the expense of spare time for education, health and

other activities.
2.1 Introduction
• Despite the importance of the environmental, human interference has
brought unprecedented actual and potential harmful impacts on the
Environment.
• Three broad dimensions of environmental damage may be identified:
1. threat posed to human life, health and continuing economic

activity impairments to the functional, productive and
assimilative capacities of ecological systems
2. threat to the natural world - the loss of biodiversity, the

disappearance of particular habitats and the extinction, local and
global, of particular species of flora and fauna.
3. threat to socially, aesthetically and culturally significant

environments, both rural and urban.
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2.1 Introduction
• Some of the key issues in environment and development urgently
affecting the world include:
• Pollution
• Global warming
• Overpopulation
• Waste disposal
• Ocean acidification
• Loss of biodiversity
• Deforestation
• Ozone layer depletion
• Acid rain
• Public health issues
2.1 Introduction
• Environmental issues are critical challenges to efforts of achieving
sustainable development
• Success of most or all of development goals depends on ensuring

environmental sustainability
For instance the relationship between the environment and MDGs is:
• Halve extreme poverty and hunger:
• livelihood and food security of 2 billion people depends directly on
the availability of ecosystem services and goods
• Achieve universal primary education:

• Children (especially girls) engage in fetching water and collecting
firewood at the expense of school attendance.
• Better access to sanitation in schools will increase the number of girls
who enroll.
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2.1 Introduction
• Promote gender equality and empowerment of women:
• Poor women in particular suffer from household air pollution,
the burden of fetching water and firewood and inequitable
access to land and natural resources.
• Reduce child mortality:

• Diarrhea and respiratory complaints are the main causes of
death in children under five due to contaminated water, lack of
sanitation and air pollution
• Improve maternal health:

• Air pollution in buildings and the burden of fetching firewood
and water impair women’s health.
2.1 Introduction
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases:
• Up to 20 % of diseases worldwide are attributable to
environmental factors
• Preventive interventions in environment are a major
component of health care
• Ensure environmental sustainability:

• More than half of poor people live in ecologically fragile rural
areas
• Environmental degradation must be halted to preserve sources
of livelihood
• Develop a global partnership for development:

• Many environmental problems can only be dealt with in
partnership and international cooperation
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• The Brundtland report (1987) of the WCED titled “our common future”
established the concept of “sustainable development” (SD) for the first time
• Then officially adopted ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992
• This report put SD firmly into the political arena of international
development thinking.
• Environmental concerns related to development processes were considered
from social, economic and political perspective rather than solely from a
science
• SD was also reaffirmed by other UN Conference too (such as “Rio+20” )
Gro Harlem Brundtland

Chair of the Brundtland Commission
29th PM of Norway, DG of WHO (1998-2003)
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Meaning of SD
• Etymology of sustainability: Latin word “sustinae” meaning “to hold”,

“to endure” or “to maintain”
• Literally, SD means maintaining development over time
• Definition of SD: “development that meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.” (Our Common Future, 1987, p. 43)
• The two key concepts of the definition:

• Needs: essential needs of the world's poor ( with an overriding priority)
• Limitations: imposed by technology and social organization on the
environment's ability to meet present and future needs

Framing the concept of SD
• Three pillars framework of SD:

• Environmental, Social and
Economic
• Implies the need to consider:

• the social, ecological and
economic arenas together
and equally (‘holistically’) if
development is to be
sustainable.
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• The three aspects are interconnected

and
• If combined and applied they can

create a steady base for a sustainable
world everybody can benefit.
• Natural resources are preserved

and the environment is protected,
• the economy is not harmed and
• quality of life is improved or

maintained

• Environmental sustainability (ES)
• Retaining total functionality and utility of natural environment for a long
period of time
• balance the natural environment while simultaneously promote positive

growth rates
• At source site: harvest rates of resources must be kept within

regeneration rates
• At sink site: waste emissions should not exceed assimilative capacity of

environment
• Avoid actions disrupting environment balance but if they occur limit

them to a lesser extent
• Main purpose of ES: minimize the impact of human activities on the

environment and encourage the restoration and preservation of natural
habitat
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• Some elements of environmental sustainability include:
• Ecosystem services
• Green engineering & chemistry
• Air quality
• Water quality
• Stressors
• Resource integrity

• Economic sustainability (EcS)”
• ability of an economy to support a defined level of economic
production indefinitely
• consists issues such as from "smart growth" to subsidies or tax

breaks for green development, and or reducing unnecessary
spending
• Some elements of economic sustainability include:

• Jobs
• Incentives
• Supply and demand,
• Natural resource accounting
• Costs and prices
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• Social sustainability (SS):
• promote the general improvement of society
• supports the concept of intra and intergenerational justice
• encloses many related issues such as environmental law, social capital,

cultural competence, community resilience, and human adaptation.
• If not taken into serious consideration it can lead to the collapse of the
sustainability as well as the society itself.
• Some elements of social sustainability include:

• Social environmental justice
• human health protestation
• participation
• education
• resource security
• sustainable Communities

• What if we achieve only two of the pillars of SD?
SS + ES → Bearable, but EcS + ES → Viable but not

unequitable and nonviable equitable and unbearable
development development
SS + EcS → Equitable, but

unbearable and nonviable
development
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Weak versus Strong Sustainability
Weak Sustainability:
• perceives that:
• natural resources as
superabundant and substitutable
by another kinds of capital
• environmental degradation due

to emissions can be compensated
by payments
• future generations will have best

technologies, information and
capital to address environmental
problems
• So, no need to invest too much

effort today to avoid such
unknown problems

Strong Sustainability:
• postulates that:
• some critical natural resources and
services (like ozone layer and
biodiversity) are non-substitutable
by other forms of capital
• current global economic activities

have reached a scale that is big
enough to undermine the welfare
of the future generations.
• it is essential to minimize
irreversible natural capital losses
and attempt to avoid the
catastrophic consequences
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• Principles: fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation
for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
• Principles of SD: are:
• propositions that recognizes the interdependence of environmental,

social and economic systems and promotes equality and justice through
people empowerment and a sense of global citizenship.
• commonly associated with the Rio Declaration of the 1992 Earth

Summit.
• The Declaration become the canonical formulation of the legal

concept and principles of SD
• The 27 principles of Rio declaration are directly or indirectly related

to the general principles of SD
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The 27 principles of the Rio Declaration
• Principle 1 Human beings and the environment
• Principle 2 Prevention
• Principle 3: From a right to development to intergenerational equity
• Principle 4: Sustainable development through integration
• Principle 5: Poverty eradication
• Principle 6: Special situation of developing countries
• Principle 7: Common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR)
• Principle 8: Sustainable patterns of production and consumption and demographic policies
• Principle 9: Science and technology
• Principle 10: Public participation
• Principle 11: Environmental legislation:
• Principle 12: The environment and trade
• Principle 13: Liability and compensation

• Principle 14: Dangerous substances and activities
• Principle 15: Precaution
• Principle 16: The polluter-pays principle
• Principle 17: Environmental impact assessment
• Principle 18: Notification and assistance in case of emergency
• Principle 19: Notification and consultation on activities with transboundary impact
• Principle 20: The role of women
• Principle 21: The role of the youth
• Principle 22: Indigenous people and sustainable development
• Principle 23: The environment of oppressed peoples
• Principle 24: The environment in armed conflict
• Principle 25: Peace, development and environmental protection
• Principle 26: International environmental dispute settlement
• Principle 27: Cooperation in a spirit of global partnership
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• Carefully examining the principles of Rio-declaration, one

can clearly understand that some of the principles are:
• highly related and can be regrouped in to core principles

of sustainable development
• Hence, below are the most commonly referred core or

general principles of SD

1. Inter-Generational Equity
• The right of each generation of human beings to benefit from the
cultural and natural inheritance of the past generations as well as the
obligation to preserve such heritage for future generations.
• Requires conserving the diversity and quality of biological resources

and of renewable resources such as forest, water and soil.
• Meeting the essential needs dependents in part on achieving full

growth potential and
• SD requires economic growth in places where such needs are not being
met
• This emanates from the Brundtland report’s definition of SD
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2. Use and Conservation of Natural Resources
• To meet needs on sustainable basis it is necessary to use natural

resources carefully
• Natural resources base must be conserved and enhanced.
• It is our moral obligation to other living beings and future

generations
• resources must be conserved and enhanced to meet the needs of

growing population.
3. Environment Protection
• Protection of the environment is an essential part SD
• Without adequate environment protection, development

is undermined
• Without development, resources will be inadequate for

needed investments and environmental protection will
fail.
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4. The Precautionary Principle

• ‘Prevention is better than cure’
• Widely recognized as the most important principle of SD
• It involves the anticipation of environmental harm and

taking measures to avoid it or to choose the least
environmentally harmful activity
• Precautionary duties must not only be triggered by the

suspicion of concrete danger but also by justified concern or
risk potential
5. The Polluter Pays Principle:
• ‘Guilty should be punished’, is its gist
• It states that the absolute liability for harm to the

environment extends not only to compensate the victims of
pollution but also the cost of restoring the environmental
degradation
• It includes environmental costs as well as direct costs to

people or property
• Remediation of the damaged environment is part of the

process of SD
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6. Obligation to Assist and Cooperate
• Environmental problem is not the problem of an individual
or one country, but a global problem
• Therefore it can be tackled only with the assistance and
cooperation of all.
• Hence, state should cooperate to strengthen endogenous
capacity building for SD by:
• improving scientific understanding through exchanges of
scientific and technological knowledge
• enhancing development, adoption, diffusion and transfer of

technologies

7. Eradication of Poverty
• SD has to address the problem of the large number of people
living in absolute poverty
• Poverty reduces people capacity to use resources in a
sustainable manner and hence it intensifies pressure on the
environment
• Most of the developing countries are under the stress of
poverty
• Therefore, it is necessary that growth must be revived in
developing countries
• alleviation of poverty and environmental conditions operate
most directly.
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8. Financial Assistance to Developing Countries
• People in developing countries strain their natural resources and

over exploit them to meet their basic needs
• Developing countries do not have the finances and modern

technology to follow the path SD
• Therefore:
• financial assistance and transfer of technology from the

developed nations to the developing nations is a must to
achieve the goal of SD and environment protection

9. Differentiation principle:
• Also called common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR)
• establishes that all states are responsible for addressing global

environmental destruction yet not equally responsible
• The principle balances:
1.the need for all states to take responsibility for global

environmental problems
2.the need to recognize the wide differences in levels of

economic development between states
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• SD indicators: statistics used to measure social equity, economic growth,
institutional capacity, and environmental protection to ascertain the
different dimensions and levels of SD
• The UNCED in 1992 recognized the importance of indicators in helping countries

make informed decisions concerning SD
• The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) approved its work program

on indicators of SD in 1995.
• The first two sets of CSD indicators of SD were developed between 1994 and
2001
• Revised edition of the CSD indicators has been developed in response to

decisions by the CSD in 2002.
• CSD indicators have been used in measuring progress on achieving SD (including

MDGs and SDGs) at national and international levels
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• SD indicators can help managers and policy makers to:
1. anticipate and assess conditions or historical trends
2. provide early warning information to prevent adverse outcomes
3. benchmark against other systems
4. communicate ideas
5. support decision-making
6. formulate strategies and establish improvement goals
7. track progress.
• The newly revised CSD indicators of SD are presented below:
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• SDGs adopted after the completion of the MDGs
The MDGs, 2000–2015
• Adopted in by Un member countries
• Have eight goals with specific targets deemed achievable by 2015
• Acknowledged the multidimensional nature of development and poverty

alleviation
• Developed at the UN in consultation with the developing countries
• key international agencies, including the World Bank, IMF, and OECD were
involved
• assigned responsibilities to rich countries, including:
• (1) increased aid, (2) removal of trade and investment barriers, and
• (3) eliminating unsustainable debts of low-income countries

• The eight MDG goals toward which progress was pledged were:
• Goal 1 - Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
• Goal 2 - Achieve universal primary education
• Goal 3 - Promote gender equality and empower women
• Goal 4 - Reduce child mortality
• Goal 5 - Improve maternal health
• Goal 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Goal 7 - Ensure environmental sustainability
• Goal 8 - Develop a global partnership for development
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Critics of MDGs
• Some critics argued that the MDGs:
• targets were not ambitious enough,
• were not prioritized; for example, reducing hunger may leverage the
achievement of many of the other health and education targets
• are presented and treated as stand-alone objectives but complements

each other, such as the close relationship between health and education.
• Measuring poverty as fraction of the population below the $1-a-day line,

is arbitrary and fails to account for the intensity of poverty
• lack of goals on :
• (1) reducing rich-country agricultural subsidies, (2) improving legal and

human rights of the poor, (3) slowing climate change, (4) expanding gender
equality, and (5) leveraging the contribution of the private sector

Achievement of the MDGS
• Achievements were generally positive, but mixed
• “Halving poverty” came to serve as a touchstone for the

MDGs as a whole.
• halving income poverty was achieved by 2012, largely

because incomes rose in China
• Halving hunger was not achieved but it dropped from 23%

in 1990 to about 12% in 2015 (still left 800 million people in
hunger)
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• significant progress on enrolments, but the universal goal
was not met—57 million children were not in primary
schooling 2015
• Under-5 child mortality dropped about 41% but not halved,

implying 3 million extra child deaths annually
• Maternal deaths halved—but the target three-quarters was

not reached.
• Clean drinking water target was met, but the sanitation goal
was not.
• significant progress on reducing several diseases like TB and

malaria

The SDGs
• Adopted in 2015 following the end to the MDGs period
• Are 17 goals assigned with 169 targets to be achieved by 2030
• There were also 304 indices to be used to track progress, of which 232
were agreed upon by the end of 2018.
• Countries committed to substantial achievements in ending

multidimensional poverty and improving the quality of life
• The resolution affirmed:
“We are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all their forms and
dimensions, and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their
potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.”
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• The goals are officially used by most development agencies and many
independent NGOs
• Compared with previous SDGs, their three underlying principles are

new:
• The universality principle: The SDGs apply to every nation (with

action encouraged from every sector).
• The integration principle: All the goals must be achieved; to do so

it is necessary to account for their interrelationships.
• The transformation principle: It is not sufficient to take “piecemeal”

steps.
End of Chapter IV
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3/23/2022

By: Amanuel Mekonnen (MA)

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

2.3 Principles of Sustainable Development

2.4 Indicators of Sustainable Development

2.5 Sustainable Development Goals

• Environment is considered to include those bio-physical resources and

• Environment functions: ecological, economic, social and intrinsic value

• Livelihood of more than half of the economically active population in

• Environmental quality strongly affects, and is affected by, economic

• The environment and natural

• The intrinsic value of the

• These functions are especially

• Cultural values and identity have a

• In many cases, there are no alternatives available

• Desertification, deforestation and the loss of biodiversity have a direct

• Both men and women consume, use and manage natural

• But women face particular difficulties

• Degradation of forests, water resources and land has direct effects

• When ecosystem services are degraded, the time poverty or

• mostly at the expense of spare time for education, health and

• Three broad dimensions of environmental damage may be identified:

1. threat posed to human life, health and continuing economic

2. threat to the natural world - the loss of biodiversity, the

3. threat to socially, aesthetically and culturally significant

• Success of most or all of development goals depends on ensuring

• Achieve universal primary education:

• Reduce child mortality:

• Improve maternal health:

• Ensure environmental sustainability:

• Develop a global partnership for development:

2.1 Meaning of Sustainable Development

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

Gro Harlem Brundtland

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

• Etymology of sustainability: Latin word “sustinae” meaning “to hold”,

• Literally, SD means maintaining development over time

• Definition of SD: “development that meets the needs of the present

• The two key concepts of the definition:

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

• Three pillars framework of SD:

• Implies the need to consider:

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

• The three aspects are interconnected

• If combined and applied they can

• Natural resources are preserved

• the economy is not harmed and

• quality of life is improved or

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

• balance the natural environment while simultaneously promote positive

• At source site: harvest rates of resources must be kept within

• At sink site: waste emissions should not exceed assimilative capacity of

• Avoid actions disrupting environment balance but if they occur limit

• Main purpose of ES: minimize the impact of human activities on the

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

• Green engineering & chemistry

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

• consists issues such as from "smart growth" to subsidies or tax

• Some elements of economic sustainability include:

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development

• supports the concept of intra and intergenerational justice

• encloses many related issues such as environmental law, social capital,

• Some elements of social sustainability include:

2.2 Meaning of Sustainable Development