Download Environmental Sustainability Background Report

Security Council
Environmental Sustainability
What is Environmental Sustainability?
Environmental sustainability is the idea that global resources should be sustainable and
not harmful to the environment. It stems from the knowledge that the resources currently being
consumed are finite and cannot sustain global growth and development forever, as well as being
harmful to the environment. True sustainability is marked by its ability to maintain conditions in
which “humans and nature can exist in productive harmony.” Environmental sustainability
should permit for the filling of social and economic needs for both present and future
generations.
Why is Environmental Sustainability Necessary?
Environmental sustainability plans are necessary because most of the resources currently
being used are not sustainable in the long-term and are harmful to the environment and people.
The amount of pollution being put into the air has been enough to cause severe health problems
in parts of the world. Unsustainable development is also closely tied with poverty and decreased
biodiversity. Environmental sustainability “goes to the heart of tackling a number of interrelated
global issues such as poverty, inequality, hunger and environmental degradation.”
What are the Biggest Issues?
The biggest topics and problems that currently need to be tackled include stopping
deforestation, providing safe and sufficient drinking water, preventing health problems by
reducing pollution, creating more clean energy, preventing the ongoing decrease in biodiversity,
and creation of sustainable infrastructure in all countries. It is important to note that while
developed countries may be the ones putting out the most pollution and contributing the most to
global climate change, it is the developing countries that need the most help with sustainable
development.
What Has Been Done so Far?
So far, multiple things have been done to begin the journey of switching over to
environment friendly processes, but this is still only the beginning. The Montreal Protocol on
substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was created to reduce the creation and use of
substances that are harmful to the Ozone layer. It was implemented in at the beginning of 1989,
but it contains a unique clause that allows for it to be changed as new scientific research is
conducted. The most recent of these changes was implemented in 2008. At the UN millennium
Summit in 2000, they established the Eight millennium development goals, number seven of
which, is to ensure environmental sustainability. The Kyoto protocol came into force at the end
of 2004, it established “legally binding emission targets for industrialized countries and created
innovative mechanism to assist these countries in meeting these targets.” At the end of 2014, The
United States and China reached an agreement on climate change and clean energy cooperation
plans that stated the United States would target to cut “net greenhouse gas emissions 26-28
percent below 2005 levels by 2025” and that China would “peak CO2 emissions around 2030,
with the intention to try to peak early, and to increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to
around 20 percent by 2030.”
Questions to Consider:
Which environmental topics are particularly important to each individual country?
What factors will make reaching environmental sustainability difficult to attain for each country?
Which countries should turn the most focus on to environmental sustainability?
What should the next step in achieving global environmental sustainability be?
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
http://ozone.unep.org/new_site/en/montreal_protocol.php
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/environ.shtml
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/367/sustainable-development