Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.1
Trends identified by WCED in 1987
Hunger and poverty increasing
Literacy not improving
Lack of safe water and shelter
Lack of fuel
Gap between rich and poor widening
Desertification
Deforestation
Acid precipitation
Greenhouse gases and global warming
Ozone hole
Toxic materials and the food chain
There have been many reviews of global sustainability progress; for instance the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment review (MEA
2005
), reviews before the 2012
Rio+20 Summit, and a more recent and comprehensive analysis carried out by the
Worldwatch Institute (
2013
). While there has been rapid economic growth and as-
sociated improvements in social and economic welfare in many parts of the world,
almost all global environmental indicators continue to worsen, while economic and
social objectives of sustainability (inequality, basic needs, gender equality, repro-
ductive health and population, etc.) have also failed to be achieved, despite econom-
ic growth having increased global GDP from $ 16.2 trillion in 1987 to $ 71.2 trillion
in 2012. UNEP's Global Environmental Outlook (UNEP,
2012
GEO-5) cautions
that “
if humanity does not urgently change its ways, several more critical thresholds
may be exceeded, beyond which abrupt and generally irreversible changes to the
life-support functions of the planet could occur.
” Current trends threaten to under-
mine or reverse progress on development and severely constrain opportunities for
a prosperous future.
Knowledge of the state of the world and its environment is better than it has ever
been; yet it appears that we are unable to act on this knowledge to find a way of
curbing the excessive impact of human activities on the planet. With democracies
and globalization such strong drivers of the current socio-economic system, strong
public support and momentum is increasingly important to require (or at least al-
low) governments to grasp such intractable challenges as global warming, defor-
estation, biodiversity loss and extinctions, or population issues. However, track-
ing surveys on the global public's assessment of the urgency of key environmental
problems shows concerns have decreased at the same time as scientific assessments
of the threats have strengthened (Fig.
1.1
). Meanwhile the 'virtuous circle' of 'green
consumers' demanding and rewarding a 'greener' business model also appears to
be stagnant. Surveys such as National Geographic's and GlobeScan's
Greendex,
across 17 countries show little growth in sustainable consumer behavior since the
survey's start in 2008 (Sustainability and Globescan
2013
). Reasons include skepti-
cism about company 'green-wash' and the unfortunate reality that individual efforts
are only worthwhile when reinforced and supported by broad government and pri-
vate sector action.
Against the background of this negative assessment of the ability of current eco-
nomic and social systems to evolve to a sustainable development path, one limit-
ing factor has been seen as inadequate education in sustainable development, and
a lack of leadership in all key parts of society- political, administrative, corporate
