Course Name: Human Values &

Environment Sustainability
Section IV- Human Use of the Earth
Complexities of Sustainable development.
 Inequalities and Access to Resources:

1 Inequalities of access to educational

resources: Social and ethnic inequality in
educational achievement constitute a
troublesome and enduring aspect of schooling.
Large proficiency gaps between students of
high and low socio-economic status exhits all
over the world.
 Inequalities of access to Health Facilities:

1. Prior to the 1970s, the main movement of health

workers was from the developed to the developing
world. The new pattern runs in the opposite
direction and weakens already fragile health
systems, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (Social
Science & Medicine, Nov. 2007).
2. Increased flows of labour and goods in a global
health market, combined with decreased
regulation, leads to increased inequality (both
between and within countries) in health status and
access to health care.
3. Declining public investment in the health sector
has worsened conditions in both source and
destination countries.
4. Health has become a commodity in a global market. This new
economy involves the cross-border flow of technologies,
particularly, pharmaceutical products, and health-related
human resources.
5. The patterns of technological diffusion, finance and
governance are complex and diverse. Inequalities in access to
resources and variations in knowledge, training and cultural
constructions of health combine with growing demand for
health care produce global problems.

6. There are clear differences in the incidence of ill-health by

social class. People in lower social classes, including children,
are more likely to suffer from infective and parasitic diseases,
pneumonia, poisonings or violence. Adults in lower social
classes are more likely, in addition, to suffer from cancer, heart
disease dialectics and respiratory disease.
 Inequalities of access to Food:

1. Access to healthy food is one of those issues that

anyone - no matter their racial, ethnic, geographic or
political stripes - can agree upon, simply because
everyone has to eat.

2. Intra-country inequality of access to food is due

mainly to differences in income or purchasing power
among households. The share of food in household
expenditure declines with rising income. In addition,
there are upper and lower limits to food consumption
(expressed in kcal). This means that actual changes in
access to food, as opposed to income is not always
from.
 Food production
needs to be doubled
to meet the demand
for an additional 3
billion people in the
next 30 years

Climate change is projected

to decrease
productivity in the tropics
agricultural
and sub-tropics for
any amount of warming
almost
 Inequalities of access to Clean Water:

1. Water is a fundamental environmental resource. Access

to water is a basic necessity for human survival, for
agricultural production and industrial development.
2. The management of water resources can present
a major challenge even for rich technologically
advanced societies in temperate climates. Analysis of
disputes over water resources touching on issues on
politics, power, justice and law – all central concepts are
within the considerations of environmental justice.
3. Inequalities in access to water resources and exposure to
and effects of flooding are apparent at global, national
and local levels. The challenge for sustainable
development and social justice in both the developed and
developing worlds are there.
 Water Services

Climate change
is projected to
decrease water
availability in
many arid- and
semi-arid
regions

Population facing
One third of the world’s water scarcity will be
population is now subject to more than double over
water scarcity the next 30 years
 Key Challenges of Sustainable Development:

1. Climate change and clean energy

2. Sustainable transport system.
3. Sustainable consumption and production Patterns.
4. Conservation and management of natural resources
5. Public health system.
6. Social inclusion, demography and migration issues
7. Global poverty and sustainable development
challenges
 Climate change & clean energy

i) Global temperature rise be limited to 2°C

Ii) Renewables: Ensure 12% energy consumption by 2010
(15% by 2015); 21% electricity consumption
iii) Biofuels: Ensure 5.75% transport by 2010 (8% by 2015)
iv) Energy efficiency: Ensure overall saving of 9% by 2017
v) Greenhouse gases: Ensure reduction of 15-30% by 2020
Vi) Make sure Average car CO2 emissions 140 g/km by 2008/09, 120
g/km by 2012
 Sustainable transport:

i) Sustainable transport (or green transport) refers to any means of transport

with low impact on the environment, and includes walking and cycling,
transit oriented development, green vehicles, Car Sharing, and building or
protecting urban transport systems that are fuel-efficient, space-saving and
promote healthy lifestyles.
ii) Sustainable transport systems make a positive contribution to the
environmental, social and economic sustainability of the communities they
serve. Transport systems exist to provide social and economic connections,
and people quickly take up the opportunities offered by increased mobility
iii) Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting
for between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon
dioxide emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing
at a faster rate than any other energy using sector. Road transport is also a
major contributor to local air pollution and smog
 Public health

i) Food and feed legislation, including labelling

ii) Improve Animal health and welfare
iii) Curbing lifestyle-related and chronic diseases
iv) Reduce health inequalities
v) Rules by 2020 for chemicals (including pesticides)
vi) Mental health and suicide risks
vii) Health determinants and lifestyle
viii) Food and feed legislation, including GMOs
ix) HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
x) Indoor air quality
xi) Transport, Health and Environment
 Social inclusion, demography & migration
i) Social cohesion, respect for cultural diversity
ii)Adapt to demographic change iii)
Increase employment by women, older
migrants,
workers, young people, disabled
iv) Develop migration policy
v) Reduce negative effects of globalization on workers
vi) Social services
vii) Modernize social protection systems
viii) Implications of demographic change for land use and
resource and energy consumption and mobility
 Global poverty & global SD challenges

i) Reduce poverty risk by 2010 – especially children

ii) Advance internationally agreed goals and targets
iii) Improved international governance
iv) Promote sustainable development in WTO
v) Implement initiatives on water, energy, chemicals
vi) Debt support, untying of aid