Sustainable Development – Integrated Solution

Biodiversity and conservation aims to establish the multiple values that biodiversity can provide, specifically in nations rich in biodiversity. Conservation is a way forward to develop in environmentally friendly manner and it works on basic concepts of ecosystem resilience and sustainable use.

There is a need to strengthen the capacity of marginalized biodiversity managers (for example, local and indigenous communities and traditional farmers) to influence policy, seize political opportunities, and move forward policy debates.

Conservation of Biodiversity and other natural resources is not enough to attain the goal of developing sustainable solutions .An integrated approach which incorporates the concepts of conservative and preventive methods is the solution and it can be provided by means of Sustainable development.

Integrated Solution – Sustainable development

Development is need of every generation but now our present scenario of a global economy & a flat world demands Sustainable development.

Sustainable development starts with the idea that the most sustainable aim for all is a better quality of life for everyone, not only now, but for generations to come, so we can say that it reflects the pattern of resource use that aims to meet the human needs while preserving environment in such a way that carrying capacity of natural systems is utilized in an economic manner so that future generations would be able to meet there needs. It is not only about preserving environment but also it focuses on managing natural, social, & produced capital in a prudent manner & it is not recession to to pre-modern lifestyles as understood by many people which is a mis-conception.It is basically resolving conflict between various competing goals & involves simultaneous pursuit of eco-prosperity, environmental quality & social equity.

We need to use natural resources at the rate at which they can be replenished within a proper time period, there is a need to change from old centered ways of doing businesses to new approaches that involve cross-sectoral coordination & integration of environmental & social concerns into all development processes. Also there is a need to provide delivery of competitively priced goods & services that satisfy human needs & bring quality of life while progressively reducing ecological impact. Proper legitimate & protected rights are also required to enable effective practice of personal responsibility & development of mechanisms to protect environment.

Obstacles to sustainable development –

Natural capital may not be substitutable, consumption may be irreversible (e.g. Ecosystem services) & multifunctionality of many natural resources which are difficult to replenish once the systems are degraded highly.

What has been done & what can be done now-

Today in world, large investments are going on in projects involving renewable resources e.g. – India Renewable Energy Development Agency(IREDA) will be investing US $ 3.39 billion dollars for development of renewable energy sector projects during 11th 5 year plan, Govt. has also formulated National policy on bio fuels. Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Gujarat government for setting up 5 solar parks.

Similar initiatives are also going on in various nations but along with this there is a need for a Sustainable Business Model which not involves mass consumption & mass disposal models, which focuses on developing technologies to improve environmental conservation features of products, facilitate application of such features, as well as technology for innovative manufacturing processes that require less energy & this type of business model is required in every nation whether it is developed or developing but developed nations should work in this regards first as they have enough resource & capital to develop such technologies.

Many small initiatives can be proved very helpful in sustainable development if implied in a nation –

Buy fresh food rather than processed food(low carbon), develop retail stores in which solar roof tops are there, managing livestock operations in a prudent manner & reducing energy consumption there, developing & promoting products which can be recycled easily & developing software’s which can be updated easily etc.

Many such initiatives can help a lot in sustainable development but a proper Sustainable Business Model is need of today for every organisation(profit or non-profit) in every nation.