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Ecologically Sustainable Development

时间:2014-08-08 | 来源: | 作者:

  Ecologically Sustainable Development

  Dr. Peter Wittmann (Austria)

  Ecologically sustainable development is the environmental component of sustainable development. It can be achieved partially through the use of the precautionary principle; if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. Also important is the principle of intergenerational equity; the present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment is maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations. In order for this movement to flourish, environmental factors should be more heavily weighed in the valuation of assets and services to provide more incentive for the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity.

  Beyond ecology as the intersection of humans in the environment, environmental sustainability concerns the natural environment and how it endures and remains diverse and productive. Since Natural resources are derived from the environment, the state of air, water, and the climate are of particular concern.

  Environmental sustainability requires society to design activities to meet human needs while preserving the life support systems of the planet. This, for example, entails using water sustainably, utilizing renewable energy, and sustainable material supplies.

  An "unsustainable situation" occurs when natural capital (the sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally. Inherently the concept of sustainable development is intertwined with the concept of carrying capacity. Theoretically, the long-term result of environmental degradation is the inability to sustain human life. Such degradation on a global scale should imply an increase in human death rate until population falls to what the degraded environment can support. If the degradation continues beyond a certain tipping point or critical threshold it would lead to eventual extinction of humanity

  Political considerations

  Effective political support is necessary for ecologically sustainable development. The mobilization of governments can be translated into action plans that are crucial to sustainable development. Development efforts can be influenced by patterns of family arrangements, work attitudes, social morality - particularly interpersonal responsibilities, hierarchy of authority, quality of scientific education and implementation, and degree of domestic stability - especially, freedom from social conflict. National policy and development planning requires three conditions to permit ecological sustainability: action-oriented values to which individuals are committed, political authorities that favour long-term ecological benefits over immediate economic gains, and a policy with a politically competent constituency.

  The World Conservation Strategy was published in 1980, becoming one of the most encouraging developments that uses a goal-oriented programme for political change concerning ecological sustainability. The publication marked a fundamental policy shift for the global conservation movement. The traditional focus became cure rather thanPrevention, confirming the growing trend on the assimilation of preservation and development aims that are key to an ecologically sustainable society. Specifically, the concentration on wildlife conservation drifted into a concern for wider strains degrading the natural environment. It promotes the principles of sustainable development and addresses the environmental concerns introduced by economic development decisions with a format that targets a wide audience. There are three chief conservation objectives:

  1. Maintaining essential biogeochemical cycles and life-support systems

  2. Preserving genetic diversity

  3. Establishing a sustainable use of species and ecosystems

  Ecological Improvement and Environmental Protection in Tibet

  China's Tibet Autonomous Region is situated on the main body of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. With high altitude, unique geographical features and rich wildlife, water and mineral resources, it has been called the "Roof of the World" and the "Third Pole of the Earth." It is not only the "source of rivers" and the "ecological source" for the areas in South and Southeast Asia, but is also the "starter" and "regulating area" of the climate of China and indeed of the Eastern Hemisphere as a whole.

  The Chinese government attaches great importance to ecological improvement and environmental protection in Tibet. It has made tremendous efforts to strengthen ecological improvement and environmental protection work in Tibet, promote the sustainable development of its economy and society, and improve the quality of life of the people of its various ethnic groups. For over half a century, ecological improvement and environmental protection in Tibet has as an important part of the effort to modernize Tibet. Together with economic development, social progress and enhancement of people's living standards, the ecological improvement pressed forward and made great achievements. It would help clarify some people's misunderstanding concerning Tibet's eco-environmental problem and enhance their understanding of Tibet to review the progress of the ecological improvement and environmental protection work in Tibet, to present the status quo of this undertaking, and to envisage the prospects of sustainable development for the region.

  Ecological Improvement and Environmental Protection amid Economic Development

  An evaluation system of social development will be improved and a complete assessment system and reward punishment system will be established to ensure a trade-off between economy and ecology. Ecological-related knowledge will be popularized to the general public to raise preservation awareness.

  While aiming to intensify efforts in environmental protection in Tibet Autonomous Region, the Chinese central government has been committed to the sustainable development of Tibet during the past few decades and achieved remarkable results.

  The Tibet Plateau is "the third-cleanest area in the world in terms of its environment," after the South Pole and North Pole, says a white paper issued in October, according to Xinhua News Agency.

  "It has a clean and transparent atmospheric environment, and similar contents of pollutants to the North Pole," says the white paper.

  Tibet has few types and low concentrations of pollutants, compared to other places, the white paper says, adding that its atmospheric content of heavy metals is close to the background value of such elements in the global atmosphere.

  In addition, the atmospheric content of heavy metals in Lhasa is much lower than that in densely populated areas and industrialized regions, it says.

  The white paper says the major rivers and lakes in Tibet maintain fine water quality, and the concentration of heavy metals is near the background level of global rivers and lakes ecosystem, indicating that they have not been polluted by human activities.

  Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has witnessed a trend of significantly reducing sandstorms in the past 50 years, according to an official bulletin released on Thursday.

  From 1961 to 2012, the records of the region's 18 meteorological stations show that the number of days with sandstorms per decade reduced by 26.4 days on average, said the Tibetan Climate Change Detection Bulletin.

  Tibet has a forested area of 14.71 million hectares, which endows the region with a forest coverage rate of 11.98 percent, thanks to multiple major afforestation and desertification control projects.

  The Strategic Choice for Sustainable Development

  For the past 50 years or so, benefiting and support from the whole nation, people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have pulled their full weight to give an earth-shaking new look to Tibet, and have made achievements in ecological improvement and environmental protection that have attracted attention worldwide. Tibetan people today live and work in peace not only with a booming economy and developing society, but also with their landscape kept beautiful, their rivers kept clean, their animal species kept diversified, and their vegetation kept lush. Tibet has truly become a "Shangri-la."

  Ecological improvement and environmental protection in Tibet cannot be achieved if development steps falter, but nor should we attain short-term economic development at the cost of the ecological environment. We can only follow the law of social development, attach equal importance to both economic development and eco-environmental protection, giving attention to protection in the process of development and seeking development in the process of protection, and implement the strategy of sustainable development. Ecological improvement and environmental protection should be done in an active, thrusting and dynamic manner, and not in a passive, conservative and closed-door way. We cannot refuse any interaction between man and natural eco-environment on the excuse of preserving the fragile primitive natural state, because this will hamper the economic and social development and the improvement of people's living standard in Tibet.

  Tibet's ecological improvement and environmental protection, just as its economic and social development, have a vital bearing not only on the fundamental interests of the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet but also on the common interests of the whole nation. People of all ethnic groups in Tibet are the major motivators and direct participants in the ecological improvement and environmental protection work in Tibet. They are also the main beneficiaries of a well-preserved ecological environment. Carrying forward such work will benefit both the State and the people for generations to come. Starting from the fundamental interests of the Tibetan people and the fundamental demand of the people of all ethnic groups across China for common prosperity, over the past five decades and more the Chinese Central Government and the local government of Tibet, in a spirit of being highly responsible for posterity and the world as a whole, have made tremendous efforts to promote and develop the ecological improvement and environmental protection work in Tibet, and have made achievements that have captured worldwide attention.

  It is true that there are still many problems in Tibet's ecological improvement and environmental protection efforts. As the whole global ecosystem is deteriorating, the fragile ecology in Tibet is particularly affected. Mud-rock flows, landslides, soil erosion, snowstorms and other natural calamities occur frequently in Tibet and desertification is threatening the region's eco-environment, compounded by man-made damage to the ecological environment as Tibet's economy develops. All these things have attracted much attention from the Central Government and the local government of Tibet. In order to ensure the permanent stability of the ecological environment and natural resources and to guard against possible new threats to them, the Tibetan local government, supported by the Central Government, has set up and put into practice since 2001 a mammoth plan for ecological improvement and environmental protection. From now until the mid-21st century, more than 22 billion yuan will be invested in over 160 eco-environmental protection projects aimed at steadily improving the ecosystem in Tibet. There is no doubt that the people in Tibet will create an even more beautiful environment and an even better life for themselves in the course of their future development.

  The situation and guide lines in Austria

  The transition to a sustainable development cannot be limited to individual and gradual improvements, but much rather requires a fundamental reorientation in politics, society and economy that comprises all areas of life. The following twelve basic principles for a sustainable

  Austria are guidelines that should in future be taken into consideration by all the social actors in their decision-making. They must be viewed as equal and linked with each other, and as a whole they form the basis of the concept for a sustainable Austria.

  •Implementing the precautionary principle: This means taking our responsibility for the heritage of future generations seriously and guaranteeing the preservation of natural resources, of economic success, and of social stability.

  •Maintaining diversity: Diversity in nature, society, culture and business creates stability, protects from crises, and creates the development opportunities that guarantee a continuous evolution.

  •Aiming for integrative solutions: Ecological, economic and social challenges must be taken into consideration jointly in every decision. This requires holistic thinking, inter- and transdisciplinarity.

  •Creating scope for innovations: Social, institutional and technical innovations are interdependent. Therefore the powers of self-organisation must be reinforced, creative scope must be provided and impulses for automatic processes must be set.

  •Living the model of fairness and solidarity: These fundamental values must be observed at the international level, between generations, social groups and age groups, and between the genders. Thereby, compensation for services required by society as a whole may be one tool for balancing interests.

  •Enhancing knowledge and desire: The future must be won in the minds and hearts of people. This requires a long-term perspective, persuasion efforts oriented towards the lives of people, and a future-oriented shift in values.

  •Assuring quality and health: The quality of social relationships, meaningful and motivating jobs, qualitative growth and wealth of time paraphrase a new lifestyle oriented towards quality, humanistic values and health.

  •Supporting regionality and subsidiarity: In order to exploit the diversified knowledge of the local people, it is necessary to strengthen the future competence at the regional and communal level, whereby the different regional conditions and opportunities must be taken into consideration.

  •Enhancing local identity: In order to preserve culture, tradition and local customs, globalisation requires a stronger awareness of local identity so that diversity and uniqueness can still be maintained in a globalised world in the future.

  •Supporting participation and networking: Participation creates a better quality of decision-making by involving the individuals concerned as participants. This means not only inviting people to participate in political decision-making and shaping processes, but also creating the necessary structural conditions for such participation.

  •Setting clear signals: The various policies must enhance each other mutually, pursue clear and coordinated objectives, and enhance the security of planning through long-term and consistent signals.

  •Achieving efficiency and effectiveness through cost fairness: Future-oriented behaviour should also be rewarded individually by correct price signals. This is in compliance with the polluter pay principle, results in the internalisation of social and environmental costs, and sets clear incentives.

  •Guaranteeing further development and permanent learning: Sustainable development cannot be described as a static goal. It is much rather a dynamic learning and shaping process that concerns society as a whole. The future is open: Its shaping requires process orientation, reflectivity, and a constructive approach to conflicts of interests.

  Conclusion

  Challenge and basis for all of us in order to secure our future should be a sustainable development as a response do tendencies that have an adverse effect on our future. If we do not succeed in counteracting and reversing these tendencies within a reasonable time, many of them will become irreversible. This would have far-reaching ecological, economic and social consequences that would threaten not only the quality of life and the safety of future generations, but would also increase the costs for society drastically.

  (Dr. Peter Wittmann,(Abgeordneter zum Nationalrat) member of the Austria National Council)

  

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