Sustainable Development International Solutions March 13th, 2012, Jinan, China

Sustainable Sustainable DevelopmentDevelopment

International Solutions

March 13th, 2012, Jinan, China

Sustainable Development

What is Sustainable Development?

“To meet the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”.

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What is Sustainable Development?

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Milestones in Sustainability

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… 2020s

Sustainable Development Milestones in Sustainability

1972 - A UN conference looked at how human activity was affecting the global environment. 1987 - The Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Brundtland (World Commission of ED) was the first to bring together the ideas of social equality, economic growth and environmental protection = 'sustainable development.‘1992 - The Rio Earth Summit (30 000 delegates) led to important agreements on climate change, biodiversity and Agenda 21: an agreement for sustainable development in the 21st century.1997 - Climate change and global warming in the Kyoto Protocol. 2002 - The Johannesburg conference looked at how to improve the living conditions for billions of people on the Earth.

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Principles of sustainability: people, planet and profits

6+ Culture???


Ecological Footprint

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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.


Living on borrowed time?

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Our ecological footprint now exceeds the earth's ability to support it. Some say we are heading for disaster but others point to new technologies that will sustain our lifestyles.


Living on borrowed time?

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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.


Social Aspects

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Extreme poverty is the severe lack of material possessions or money. In 2005 the World Bank defined extreme poverty as living on less than US$1.25 a day. In 2011, this means surviving on the equivalent to US$1.50. (Wikipedia)

Proportion of world population in extreme poverty 1981–2008 according to the World Bank.


Social Aspects

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For the first time in history of humankind, issues pertaining to both climate change and economic recession are simultaneously occupying front interest.

Income is a key determinant in climate resilience.


Sustainable or not?

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Example 1:

A new office block is being built in your neighbourhood. It uses recycled building materials and will employ people when it is completed.

The building has been designed to use solar power, has good insulation and uses the minimum amount of water possible.


Sustainable or not?

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Example 2: A farmer produces vegetables which she sells in a local farmers market. She uses organic methods to fertilise her crops and control pests. She grows less than if she used intensive farming methods but can sell her vegetables at a higher price to make a reasonable profit.


Sustainable or not?

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Example 3: A new, out-of-town shopping centre has just opened. It is close to a motorway and about 10 miles from the centre of town. Each day thousands of people travel there in their cars to do their shopping. The centre is a major employer and has helped to regenerate the local economy.


ARE ELECTRIC CARS SUSTAINABLE?

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Electric Petrol

25 % slower

Carbon dioxide 73g/km 217g/km

Range 100 miles 300 miles

Time to 're-fuel' 5 hours 5 minutes

Top speed 60mph 100+mph

Number in a EU country Negligible 25 million

Sustainable Development ARE ELECTRIC CARS SUSTAINABLE?

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Petrol powers the car but it also contains batteries to drive the electric motor. When there is 'spare' energy from the petrol engine, it is used to charge the batteries. This energy drives the electric motor which powers the car at slow speeds. Electric-petrol hybrid cars are energy- efficient and produce less emissions.

Electric-Petrol hybrid Petrol

Engine size 1.3 litre; + electric motor

1.4 litre

Power 89 bhp 89 bhp

Petrol consumption

20 km/litre 15 km/litre

Carbon dioxide emissions

116 g/km 153 g/km

Acceleration 13 seconds 12 seconds

(0-100km/h) Top speed 180 km/h 175 km/h

(111 mph) (109 mph) Cost to buy £15,100 £13,100

Sustainable Development in the EU

The Sustainable Development Strategy (rev.2009) deals in an integrated way with economic, environmental and social issues and lists the following seven key challenges:

Climate change and clean energy Sustainable transport Sustainable consumption and production Conservation and management of natural resources Public health Social inclusion, demography and migration Global poverty

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• Cutting energy use vital to fighting climate change.• Everybody’s concern – energy impacts every aspect of our

lives.• BUT we take energy for granted.• To become more energy efficient, we need to break habits.• Large potential for energy savings – vastly more efficient

appliances available, yet household energy use going up with ever more appliances and electronic gadgets.

• Other benefits in cutting energy use – security of supply. Supplies of oil and gas are finite.

Sustainable development in the EU


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The 5 targets for the EU in AGENDA 2020

1. Employment 75% of the 20-64 year-olds to be employed

2. R&D / innovation 3% of the EU's GDP (public and private combined) to be invested in R&D/innovation

3. Climate change / energy greenhouse gas emissions 20% (or even 30%, if the conditions are right) lower than 1990 20% of energy from renewables 20% increase in energy efficiency

4. Education Reducing school drop-out rates below 10% at least 40% of 30-34–year-olds completing third level education

5. Poverty / social exclusion at least 20 million fewer people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion

LAND USE

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Sustainable development in Asia

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In 2008 more than 900 million people in Asia and the Pacific lived in absolute poverty.

The region is particularly vulnerable to the expected forthcoming onslaught of changes associated with global warming.

? Renewable energy in Asia vs. the living resources of the poor who depend on local renewable products such as firewood and food.

Sustainable development in Africa

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Sustaining high levels of growth and ensuring that growth provides employment opportunities are key challenges to reducing income poverty.

At the same time, income poverty is a major constraint to achieving food security, gender equality and equity, education, health, human settlements and water and sanitation objectives.

EDUCATION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE


Let’s think about it!

Policies and mainstreaming give the directions, but it is up to the citizens to do the change.

Are we ready to sacrifice our comfort in favour of our descendants?

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... 30 trees are cut in each second ...

... all the trees in our Planet can absorb

50 tons of CO2 per second ...

... all the Earth’s population produces 127 tons of waste per second ...

... each 20 minutes an animal or plant species disappears ...

... each second, 55 kg of oil are discharged into the sea...

... in 65 years, the world’s oil reserveswill be finished ...

... in each 4 seconds, a person dies of famine ...

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Think globally, Act locally…

Documents

Sustainable Development International Solutions March 13th, 2012, Jinan, China