S.S.

JAIN SUBODH LAW COLLEGE

2020-2021
SUBJECT-“Environment law”

PROJECT ON

“Sustainable Development and Environment: A Study”

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Ms. Monika Choudhary Kalpana Choudhary

Assistant Professor Semester VIII Sec-A

 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that KALPANA COUDHARY student of S.S.JAIN SUBODH LAW

COLLEGE has completed her project on the topic “Sustainable Development and
Environment: A Study” under the supervision and guidance of supervisor Mr. Monika
Choudhary.

To best of my knowledge the report is original and not been copied or submitted anywhere
else. It is an independent work done by her.

Ms. Monika Choudhary

Assistant Professor
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “Sustainable Development and Environment: A
Study” is submitted by me in partial fulfilment of the requirements for award of the degree of
B.A. LL.B from S.S. Jain Subodh Law College, Mansarovar, Jaipur. It is a result of my own
work and efforts. Any material used or scripted herein by any other
author/researcher/commentator and used hereinafter has been thoroughly acknowledged. The
present work has not been accepted for any degree, and is also not being currently submitted
for any other degree.

KALPANA CHOUDHARY

B.A.LLB Sem-VIII (A)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A research work of such great scope and precision could never have been possible without
great co-operation from all sides. Contributions of various people have resulted in this effort.
Firstly, I would like to thank God for the knowledge he has bestowed upon me.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Monika Chaudhary without whose
valuable support and guidance, this project would have been impossible. I would like to thank
the library staff for having put up with my persistent queries and having helped me out with
the voluminous materials needed for this work. I would also like to thank my seniors for
having guided me and culminate this acknowledgement by thanking my friends for having
kept the flame of competition burning, which spurred me on through these days.
And finally my parents, who have been a support to me throughout my life and has helped
me, guided me to perform my best in all interests of my life, and all my elders who have
always inculcated the best of their qualities in me.

KALPANA CHOUDHARY

Student Signature
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.no TOPIC PAGE No.

6
1
Introduction
2 What is Sustainable Development 9
3 What are the goals of Sustainability 12
4 Conclusion 16
5 Bibliography 17
 CHAPTER I- INTRODUCTION

What is Environmental Sustainability and Sustainable Development?

While it may seem that environmental sustainability and sustainable development are one in

the same, there is quite a few ways in which they diverge in their goals. They do have the
same overall goal that of conserving natural resources and creating more energy
efficient projects and practices – but the two groups that are focused on them may find
themselves in disagreement about what the priorities of actions are. Having a better
understanding of how they are different and the same can help you do know how to navigate
dealing with both.

What is Environmental Sustainability?

The goal of environmental sustainability is to conserve natural resources and to develop

alternate sources of power while reducing pollution and harm to the environment. For
environmental sustainability, the state of the future – as measured in 50, 100 and 1,000 years
is the guiding principle. Many of the projects that are rooted in environmental sustainability
will involve replanting forests, preserving wetlands and protecting natural areas from
resource harvesting. The biggest criticism of environmental sustainability initiatives is that
their priorities can be at odds with the needs of a growing industrialized society.

What is Sustainable Development?

Sustainable development is the practice of developing land and construction projects in a

manner that reduces their impact on the environment by allowing them to create energy
efficient models of self-sufficiency. This can take the form of installing solar panels or wind
generators on factory sites, using geothermal heating techniques or even participating in cap
and trade agreements. The biggest criticism of sustainable development is that it does not do
enough to conserve the environment in the present and is based on the belief that the harm
done in one area of the world can be counter balanced by creating environmental
protections in the other.

According to Brundtland Commission in its 1987 report “Our Common Future”,

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Sustainable development has 3 goals: to minimize the depletion of natural resources, to
promote development without causing harm to the environment and to make use of
environmentally friendly practices.

When are the goals of each not in agreement?

The goals of the two groups diverge when it comes to the development of endangered areas.
For instance, there will be disagreements when it comes to developing construction practices
on a wetland. The environmental sustainability focus would argue that the preservation of the
wetland is more important than everything else. Sustainable development will show that by
incorporating preservation areas, and contributing to the overall preservation of a different
wetland area that the damage is balanced out. Sustainable development will also argue that
the local economic benefits will lead to more funding to create environmental protection
areas elsewhere.

What are the current practices that seek a balance?

Resolving these differences can be difficult. Very often, money and economy will prove to be
the deciding factor. This doesn’t mean that one side loses and one side wins, but the
environmental factors can influence the development design to create an approach that
provides the best of both worlds, without completing adopting one approach over the other.
The environmental sustainability plans may show the sustainable development engineers that
there are aspects of their design that can be improved to lessen the impact of the project on
the wetland area that would still be in existence. Through committing funds and development
to protected areas that are not a part of the development, environmental sustainability projects
that emphasize conservation and public education can advance further than they would have
on their own.

What can be done to promote greater attention to both?

The best approach is to educate the consumers, and the industry, to leave behind an either/or
approach to development and conservation and to take on a balanced ratio approach that
seeks the best of both worlds. This is very hard to do as it requires an element of sacrifice be
adopted by the present society. To this end you need both of the sides to come together to
commit to creating regulations, incentive programs and tax credits that promote sustainable
development while defining priorities for conservation in different areas that will also feed
back into the local communities.
More research and development is also needed in the areas of sustainable development to
create better engineering and construction options that are more in keeping with
environmental sustainable goals. In the end, no one can afford to lose sight of the fact that the
environment as we know it is steadily eroding and the future of everyone is dependent on the
care we take today to preserve the resources that we know, so we have time to develop better
ways of living in the world.1

1
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/what-is-environmental-sustainability-and-sustainable-
development.php
 CHAPTER II- WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

Sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The concept
of needs goes beyond simply material needs and includes values, relationships, freedom to
think, act, and participate, all amounting to sustainable living, morally, and spiritually.
The 30-year journey of four World Summits from Stockholm to Nairobi to Rio and to
Johannesburg has put the world on notice that achieving sustainable development in the
twenty-first century is not an option but an imperative.

The 1972 UN conference in Stockholm highlighted the concerns for preserving and
enhancing the environment and its biodiversity to ensure human rights to a healthy and
productive world. The developing countries argued that their priority was development,
whereas the developed countries made a case for environmental protection and conservation
as the prime issue.

The 1982 Nairobi Summit reviewed the progress in the decade since the Stockholm
Conference and called upon national governments to intensify efforts to protect the
environment and stressed the need for international cooperation. However, the tensions
between Western Governments and the Soviet Union marred progress and commitment
toward a Nairobi action plan.

In 1983 the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development was created and
in 1987, the Commission issued the Brundtland Report. This report highlighted that equity,
growth, and environmental maintenance are simultaneously possible and that each country is
capable of achieving its full economic potential while at the same time enhancing its resource
base. It emphasized three fundamental components to sustainable development:
environmental protection, economic growth, and social equity.

During the period 1972–92, over 200 regional and international agreements and conventions
for environmental protection and conservation were adopted. However, most of these
agreements were negotiated individually and treated as ‘separate entities’, with many lacking
systemic integration within the social, economic, and environmental framework of
sustainable development.

In 1992, the Earth Summit brought the world’s governments to deliberate and negotiate an

agenda for environment and development in the twenty-first century. At a parallel Global
Forum, nongovernmental organizations from around the world also discussed and deliberated
strategies for sustainable development. While there was little formal interaction between
these two meetings, the world’s civil societies succeeded in having their voices noticed. It
was an important step toward future dialog and active participation of civil society in
sustainable development regimes from local to global levels.
The Earth Summit unanimously adopted the Agenda 21, a comprehensive blue print of
actions toward sustainable development, including detailed work plans, goals,
responsibilities, and also estimates for funding. Other important accomplishments included
the Rio Declaration, a statement of broad principles to guide national conduct on
environmental protection and development, and adoption of treaties on climate change and
biodiversity, and forest management principles.
The first principle of the Rio Declaration states “human beings are at the centre of concerns
for sustainable development.” The declaration also highlighted the ‘polluter-pays-principle’
and the ‘precautionary principle’, as important considerations for the protection and
conservation of nature.

Whether addressing vulnerability to environmental change, responsibility for environmental

degradation and loss of biodiversity, or policy priorities, careful consideration of the
particular groups of people involved, and their social, economic, and environmental
conditions, is essential. Focusing on people – their rights, capabilities, and opportunities – has
multiple benefits for individuals, society, and their relationship with the environment.
Agenda 21 pointed out that different populations had ‘common but differentiated
responsibilities’ for impacts on the environment. In Rio, the thinking was dominated by the
goal of converging trends in different parts of the world. There was the clear hope that the
developing countries would catch up, while the rich countries would become increasingly
environmentally conscious and curb their excessive consumption and the related pollution
and waste. This has not come to pass.

Consumption per se is not something to be avoided since it is one important aspect of

improving human well-being. Equally important is the recognition that the relationships
between well-being, levels of consumption, and environmental impacts depend on the value
systems, the effectiveness of institutions, including forms of governance, as well as science,
technology, and knowledge.
The lack of progress in turning Agenda 21 into actions for sustainable development leads to
the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on sustainable development. Johannesburg put the
thrust on public–private partnerships for sustainable development through an endorsement of
some 500 such partnerships but most of these agreements failed to be implemented.
Prior to the Johannesburg Summit, in September 2000, political leaders from around the
world took an unprecedented step of setting concrete 2015 targets for millennium
development goals (MDGs) related to the priority challenges of sustainable development,
namely, poverty, hunger, education, gender, health, environmental sustainability, and a global
partnership for development. All these issues are interrelated; one cannot be solved without
tackling the others. The progress up to 2007 indicates that many of these MDGs are unlikely
to be realized by 2015.

The nations of the world at the Earth Summit failed to mobilize the financial resources for the
implementation of Agenda 21, and the WSSD in Johannesburg failed to turn agenda into
actions. The critical issues of education and human capital were also not on the WSSD
agenda. The scientific and technological capacity is essential and educational and research
institutions around the world have a fundamental responsibility to contribute to this.

Education comprises a lifelong learning system to cope with the changing needs and
aspirations of society. The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development, starting in 2005, lays the foundation to reform and mobilize education at all
levels, from schools to universities, in support of sustainable development.2

2
M.M. Shah, in Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008
 CHAPTER III- WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF SUSTAINABILITY

In 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development met to discuss and

develop a set of goals to work toward; they grew out of the Millennium Development Goals
that claimed success in reducing global poverty while acknowledging there was still much
more to do. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) eventually came up with a list of 17
items (8) that included amongst other things:
 the end of poverty and hunger
 better standards of education and healthcare, particularly as it pertains to water quality
and better sanitation
 to achieve gender equality
 sustainable economic growth while promoting jobs and stronger economies
 sustainability to include health of the land, air, and sea

Finally, it acknowledged the concept of nature having certain rights, that people have
stewardship of the world, and the importance of putting people at the forefront of solving
these global issues.

Thus, sustainable development recognizes that growth must be both inclusive and
environmentally sound to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity for today’s population
and to continue to meet the needs of future generations. It is efficient with resources and
carefully planned to deliver both immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet, and
prosperity. The three pillars of sustainable development–economic growth, environmental
stewardship, and social inclusion (Fig.) carry across all sectors of development, from cities
facing rapid urbanization to agriculture, infrastructure, energy development and use, water
availability, and transportation.
Many of these objectives may seem to conflict with each other in the short term. For
example, industrial growth might conflict with preserving natural resources. Yet, in the long
term, responsible use of natural resources now will help ensure that there are resources
available for sustained industrial growth far into the future.

Economic development is about providing incentives for businesses and other organizations
to adhere to sustainability guidelines beyond their normal legislative requirements. The
supply and demand market is consumerist in nature, and modern life requires a lot of
resources every single day; economic development is about giving people what they want
without compromising quality of life, especially in the developing world.

Social development is about awareness of and legislation protection of the health of people
from pollution and other harmful activities of business. It deals with encouraging people to
participate in environmental sustainability and teaching them about the effects of
environmental protection as well as warning of the dangers if we cannot achieve our goals.

Environmental protection is the need to protect the environment, whether the concept of 4 Rs
(reduce, recycle, recover, and reuse) are being achieved or not. Businesses that are able to
keep their carbon emissions low is toward environmental development. Environmental
protection is the third pillar and, to many, the primary concern of the future of humanity.
It defines how to protect ecosystems, air quality, integrity, and sustainability of our resources
and focuses on the elements that place stress on the environment. It also concerns how
technology will drive our greener future; and that developing technology is key to this
sustainability and protecting the environment of the future from potential damage that
technological advances could potentially bring.

The process of describing indicators helps diverse members of a community reach consensus
on what sustainability means. Indicators help put sustainability in concrete terms that
demonstrate a new way to measure progress. Concepts like a person’s ecological
footprint help people understand how their everyday actions relate to issues that seem beyond
the reach of a single individual and explain sustainability.3

3
Iyyanki V. Muralikrishna, Valli Manickam, in Environmental Management, 2017
 CHAPTER IV- THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

The Environment and Sustainable Development (ESD) Programme focuses on the integration
of economic, social and environmental aspects towards a balanced holistic concept of
sustainable development. The ESD Programme is one of two programme areas of the UNU
system. The ESD team is located at the UNU Centre and is specially devoted to thematic
programme areas It aims to contribute to generating solutions to global environmental
challenges. In particular, it targets the interaction between human activities and the natural
environment, and its implications for sustainable development It brings pressing issues to the
forefront of international discussion. The basic issues of human survival, development and
welfare are at the core of the themes covered within the realm of the ESD Programme.

A Multidisciplinary Approach

The ESD Programme adopts a multidisciplinary approach combining natural and social
sciences. In implementing its activities, the Programme makes special efforts to include
global perspectives as well as perspectives from developing countries and from countries
with economies in transition. Networking and capacity development, particularly in
developing countries, are given high priority.

Main Activities and Products

The main activities and products of the ESD Programme are:

▪basic research in cooperation with an international multidisciplinary network of scholars;

▪policy studies and analysis to synthesize research into policy-relevant prescription;
▪dissemination of the results of its activities through articles, books, conferences,
symposiums and workshops; ▪capacity development for developing country representatives,
policy makers, and the international academic and policy communities.

Guiding Principles and Values

The ESD Programme strives to adhere to the following guiding principles - that its activities:
▪be relevant to, and based on, the working mandates of the UN and its specialized agencies;
▪focus on developing countries;

▪assist in making informed decisions on environment and sustainable development issues

▪strengthen the involvement of marginalized stakeholders in international decision making
processes (through capacity development and information management)
▪further multinational and multidisciplinary research collaborations.

Long-Term Perspective

A key focus for UNU and its ESD Programme will be to contribute to the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals. The Programme will also enhance cooperation to ensure
constructive cross-fertilization and continue to strengthen its capacity development 4
activities. It will carry forward its work related to the WSSD outcomes (including education
for sustainable development), bringing together international organizations leading in
science, technology and education. The future programmatic work will provide research on
pressing global problems that are of relevance to the UN and its members, as well as address
critical gaps in understanding the underlying root causes of existing problems or the lack of
capacities to address them.4

CHAPTER V- CONCLUSION
4
http://archive.unu.edu/esd/ESDtext.pdf
The Conclusion chapter discusses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to
human capability and human security analyses. It documents strengths of the SDGs, areas of
common ground, disparities and possible future trajectories. The processes leading to the
SDGs were comparatively speaking notably inclusive, which has provided much more
widespread awareness and support. In declared content, too, the SDGs are in several ways
potentially transformative: applying to all countries, multidimensional, linking issues of
sustainability and development. They include much of what is desirable from capability and
human security perspectives and are more encompassing than what capability scholars have
offered in practical assessments of human well-being. They offer policy spaces and processes
that can facilitate progress on various fronts. However, they contain important limitations and
dangers, including in regard to the continuing commitment to unending growth, the relations
between the goals, targets and indicators, the power structures that lie behind these, and how
the goals will be interpreted and used at national and local levels. Capabilities analysis and
human development and human security approaches can play essential roles of critique and
enrichment, including questioning the belief in unending growth and illuminating the variety
of understandings of development and of a meaningful well-considered human life. We
suggest that the SDGs should be used as a channel for insights from these partner approaches,
and as stimuli for the approaches’ deepening and elaboration in regard to sustainability.5

BIBLIOGRAPHY

5
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-38905-5_7
Books

1. Iyyanki V. Muralikrishna, Valli Manickam, in Environmental Management,

2017https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/what-is-environmental-sustainability-and-
sustainable- development.php

2. M.M. Shah, in Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008.

3. Turner, R. Kerry (1988). "Sustainability, Resource Conservation and Pollution Control: An Overview.

4. Bimal N. Patel, ed. (2015). MCQ on Environmental Law.

5. Malik, Surender & Sudeep Malik, eds. (2015). Supreme Court on Environment Law.