Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
bases, while minimizing negative environmental impacts. People's
basic needs such as breathing, eating, drinking, being sheltered, stay-
ing healthy, being literate and educated, and being safe and free to
move, serve as the collective demands on the world's natural resources.
They have to be preserved, while being utilized, consumed, depleted,
and revitalized, among other resource transformations.
Consensus Building
Inevitably, conflicts have arisen and continue to arise from the conjunc-
tion of environment and resource crises, in which the noted inequalities
of current and future resource endowments feature as global South and
North 'divides' - born out of historical geo-political relations since colo-
nialism. Past patterns that have rendered such inequalities and brought
on intensely conflictual situations, have considerable inertia. Changing
paths towards a more equitable, sustainable future for all, therefore, is
bound to be conflict-ridden and conflict-driven. Rogers et al. accordingly
arrive at the following set of questions that sum up the
compromises
the
world needs to consider making to achieve a sustainable future for all:
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•
Will the currently wealthy countries and groups within them, be
willing to reduce their consumption of the planet's resources and
also be willing to reduce the environmental effects associated with
the current use of resources?
•
What political, social and economic mechanisms could be used to
facilitate these compromises among the 'privileged' global North
countries?
•
Will these compromises have to be enforced by multilateral (UN)
actions or can they arise from bi-lateral negotiations among the
world's rich and poor nations?
•
What is to be expected of the poor global South countries in their
plans for sustainable futures? (Rogers et al., 2008: 380)
Little Policy-making Progress
To date, and despite UN summits, World Summits on Global
Environmental Change, G-7 and G-20 meetings to build a global con-
sensus on how to accomplish environmental sustainability, and devise
solutions to achieve sustainable development, a reasoned consensus is
yet to be formulated. Little progress has been made to reconcile the
