To keep nature, we need to think carefully not only about how we live,
work and enjoy life today - but also what effect this will have on the
nature of tomorrow.
We must make decisions about development which are fair to the future.
This requires some changes of direction - and sustainable development is the key.
Sustainable development links economic, environmental and social factors in the decision-making process.
In the past we've sought to achieve economic and social goals - and dealt with any adverse effects on the environment later.
Sustainable development changes this process, to recognise that our air, land, water, flora and fauna are crucial assets without which there can be no economy or society. In Turkey particularly, these environmental assets are central to the state's development and can provide use with a natural edge in national and international markets.
But the environment itself places natural limits on what we can do. Some
of our past practices have gone beyond these limits - they were not sustainable
- and our opportunity to use those assets has been lost forever. This has
a direct impact on our capacity to pursue economic growth and on our quality
of life.
While the concept of sustainable development is still subject to some re-invention, the term has been broadened and there is now general agreement that poverty reduction and social development are prerequisites to environmental and economic health. What is certain is that the international community, from governments to civil society, regardless of their particular interpretation of the term, have all taken up sustainable development as their rallying call.
To get a clearer understanding of sustainable development, we can compare it to other ways of thinking about development and environment issues.
These other ways range from frontier economics and resource utilisation on the one hand, to selective environmentalism and deep ecology on the other. Let's look at what each of these terms means.
Frontier Economics is development that is focused purely on economic benefit, but takes little or no account of the environment. Resources are regarded as limitless in this short-term view. Frontier economics was not concerned about the availability of the resource into the future. This was a common approach to development right up to the 1960's.
The opposite of frontier economics is deep ecology. Under this approach, humans, animals and plants are treated with equal respect and little or no account is taken of the economy. Deep ecology assumes that a natural resources should be preserved from any exploitation at all.
Somewhere in between these extremes comes resource utilisation. This began in the 1960's and persists today. Under this approach natural resources are exploited for economic gain, with varying attention to avoiding, mitigating or remedying environmental damage. Economic and social factors drive resource utilisation and adverse environmental impacts are dealt with mostly only after economic-based decisions.
Selective environmentalism involves taking well-intentioned steps based more on faith than on an actual scientific understanding of the issues involved. This often results from our lack of full knowledge and ecological relationships.
I think Sustainable Development has four dimensions. These are People (Population
& People's Participation), Institutions (Land Tenure, Rural Administration
& Cooperatives), Knowledge (Research & Technology, Extesnion
& Education, Communication), Environment (Information, Policy, Planning
& Management, Energy). Sustainable development integrates social, economic
and environmental factors before and during the decision-making process.
What this represents is a new way of thinking, supported by better information about ecological relationships. To achieve it needs a new way of doing it.
The Turkey Government also must recognised this and must introduced legislation establishing a comprehensive new resource management and planning system.
Turkey's legislative system now must comprises five separate components designed to achieve sustainable development.
People deal with all kinds of indicators on a daily basis - air temperature, unemployment rates, percentages on the football ladders. These indicators show values and whether these values are going up or down over time. But, while we have many sets of scientific, social and economic indicators, we are only starting to develop environmental indicators. To help us achieve sustainable development we need indicators of the state of the environment that will be the same across the State, and nationally consistent and comparable.
A second requirement is to pull information on the environment together in an integrated way. We need a relevant and integrated set of ecological information, rather than unrelated bits of environmental data. Environmental monitoring needs to be expanded in order to help provide the knowledge base for sustainable development in Turkey.
Another component of the system is public land allocation. A significant proportion of the State's natural resources are on public land and decision making about these resources has often been disjointed and diverse in the past.
Simplified, integrated and quicker decision-making will result - all based on the principles of sustainable development.
Environmental management and pollution control issues form an integral
part of the new system.
The legislation also provides new environmental management tools, including incentives for better environmental performances and public participation in major decisions.
All these pieces of legislation are part of the new resource management
and planning approval system - and the system has sustainable development
as its central objective.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is a non-profit organization established and supported by the Governments of Canada and Manitoba. IISD's mandate is to promote sustainable development in decision making within government, business and the daily lives of individuals in Canada and internationally. Includes Sourcebase on Sustainable Development
AmericasNet Florida International University's Latin American and Caribbean Center presents Americas, the hemisphere's information service for the 21st century. Information includes the center's mission, events, resources and contacts.
Ecologically
Sustainable Development for Australia Documents available include summaries
of Australia's
National Strategy
for Ecologically Sustainable Development (NSESD), the InterGovernmental
Agreement
on the Environment
(IGAE) and National Reports to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
(CSD). Information
on environmental economics and links to other sites with sustainable development
information
are also included.
RAFI
is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in Ottawa,
Ontario (Canada) and
with affiliate
offices in Pittsboro, North Carolina (USA). RAFI is dedicated to the conservation
and
sustainable
improvement of agricultural biodiversity, and to the socially responsible
development of
technologies
useful to rural societies. RAFI is concerned about the loss of genetic
diversity - especially in
agriculture
- and about the impact of intellectual property rights on agriculture and
world food security.
United
Nations Environment Programme Geneva is a leading center for international
treaties and major
programmes dealing
with the environment and sustainable development. Most of these activities
are
sponsored by
the United Nations Environment Programme (http://www.unep.ch/unep.html)
or by the
United Nations
Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD);
Email:
[email protected]
Organization
of the American States The OAS The Department of Regional Development
and Environment
conducts technical
cooperation and training programs to assist the member States in their
efforts to preserve
their natural
resources. It works with the countries on planning sustainable development,
managing the
environment
and preparing investment programs and projects
The
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is
the international environmental
agency for local
governments. More than 200 municipalities from 43 countries participated
in the founding
of the International
Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) at the World Congress
of Local
Governments
for a Sustainable Future held in September, 1990 at the United Nations
in New York. Email:
[email protected]
Ecologically
Sustainable Development for Australia Documents available include summaries
of Australia's
National Strategy
for Ecologically Sustainable Development (NSESD), the InterGovernmental
Agreement
on the Environment
(IGAE) and National Reports to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
(CSD). Information
on environmental economics and links to other sites with sustainable development
information
are also included.
RAFI
is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in Ottawa,
Ontario (Canada) and
with affiliate
offices in Pittsboro, North Carolina (USA). RAFI is dedicated to the conservation
and
sustainable
improvement of agricultural biodiversity, and to the socially responsible
development of
technologies
useful to rural societies. RAFI is concerned about the loss of genetic
diversity - especially in
agriculture
- and about the impact of intellectual property rights on agriculture and
world food security.
Leadership for Environment and Development known as LEAD, was formed
in 1991. In each LEAD
member country
or regions, approximately 15 promising mid-career are recruited from a
broad range of
disciplines
and professional sectors to become Associates in the two-year program.
