ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Unit 1: Environment & Sustainability

 Sustainable development
❖ Implies the use of resources in a managed way as to provide resources for future generations.
 Sustainability

To protect natural

resources and environment
in order to maintain an
ecological balance.

Sustainability is the
ability of a specified
system to survive and
function over a specified
time.
 Elements of Sustainability

Environment

Economy Society
- World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987
 Elements of Sustainability

Environment

• Biodiversity
• Materials
• Energy
• Biophysical
interactions
 Elements of Sustainability

• Money and capital

• Employment
• Technological growth
• Investment

Economy
 Elements of Sustainability

• Human diversity (cultural, ethnic)

• Quality of life
• Institutional structures and organization
• Political structures

Society
Sustainability
 Sustainability: Problems
 Depletion of finite resources
fuels, soil, minerals, species
 Over-use of renewable resources
forests, fish & wildlife, fertility, public funds
 Pollution
air, water, soil
 Inequality
economic, political, social, gender
 Species loss
endangered species and spaces
 Guideposts for Sustainability
 Activities are sustainable when they:
1. Use materials in continuous cycles.
2. Use continuously reliable sources of energy.
3. Minimize the use of non-renewable resources.
4. Maximize the use renewable resources
5.Encourage desirable human traits (equity; creativity; communication; coordination; appreciation;
intellectual and spiritual development).
 Need for Public Awareness towards Environmental Protection
 Earth’s resources are decreasing and our environment is being increasingly degraded by human
activities and hence something needs to be done.
 Government alone cannot perform all the clean-up functions.
 Individual/group efforts in their own every possible way has to be made to protect our environment.
 Mass public awareness: newspapers, radio, television strongly influences public opinion on conserving
our environment.
 Need for Public Awareness towards Environmental Protection

There is an urgent need to create awareness in every individual towards –

Control of environmental pollution

Natural resources conservation
Land management
Development of non-polluting sources of energy
Environmental education
Environmental laws
Essay Competitions on Environment,
Group Discussion etc. on
World Environment Days, etc.
Backpacker’s Motto

Thank
You !!