First Step to Environmental Sustainability is Social Sustainability

                                             (Picture of Part of Sea Lots Taken from the Highway)

                        

The above photo shows the squalor that some people live in due to the abject poverty they are subjected to. As mentioned before sustainable development is meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations from meeting their needs (Brundtland Report) but now some emphasis will be placed on development. What does development mean to you and me…..what exactly is development and how it is achieved and measured? Development may have many different definitions that depend on the context it is being used such as; development of one self or development of a firm. In this case it is development of a country and of areas within a country. Development in that case is associated with stages of advancement and evolution (Roberts and Bellone 2005). There are various good outcomes of development and they include: economic growth, national progress, modernization, provision of basic needs and more sustainable patterns of growth and development (so you see no matter where I try to take this blog sustainability always comes up because it is all linked). Like with most other things are also some negative outcomes associated with development and they include: inequalities between rich and poor, some local culture & values are undermined, environment may be unstable and sometimes human rights may be infringed upon and democracy undermined by more developed countries on those that are less developed.

To quantify the outcomes of development and determine the level of development an area had gross national product (GNP) was used in a lot of countries. GNP is the measure of production in a country’s economy with respect to goods and services (Cheveldayoff). But as Cheveldayoff and many others states, GNP is not the most accurate indicator of development since, there is no indication of social and environmental well-being in a country because it is only concerned with the economic factors. However, there are other indicators beside economics that are considered when level development is being determined. GNP is not appropriate because there was a per capita gap between rich and poor countries. Standard of living factors such as: poverty, unemployment, inequality, gender inequality and education indicators began to be used along with GNP to determine the level of development.

One of the negative outcomes mentioned previously, the inequalities between rich and poor is social polarization. According to Hall and Barrett (2012), social polarization occurs both within and between cities on a global scale and they are unsustainable both socially and environmentally. The squalor that may sometimes be seen in parts of Trinidad within cities may be a result of environmental degradation.

*The standard of living of people who live in areas such as the one above is horrible. Unemployment among them is high, education, which is the right for everyone has been denied because eventhough it is free there are still some “unseen” costs associated with it therefore areas such as these within countries are what should be used to determine the level of development and governments should try to improve their lives to move towards developed nation status.

Social polarization in urban areas may occur as a result of patterns of consumption, production and waste disposal in countries. Patterns of consumption and production result in social polarization when some people cannot consume as much of the same things as others and so they are discriminated against. That is more the socially unsustainable part. While, waste disposal takes a more environmental turn where a lot of waste are not disposed properly due to no funds to do so hence impacting the environment negatively. Also, the poorer people may be placed to live closer to these “dump” areas because the rich can never be associated with that sort of thing and so the distinction between these two groups are made more prominent. In addition the definition taken from the Brundtland report that was all a physical notion implies that social equity should always be present but this is not the case due to social polarization, which is dividing communities, countries and the world.

Agenda 21 addresses social polarization a bit. It includes international cooperation, poverty, producer-consumer patterns and the environment just to name a few. International cooperation is a major way to achieve sustainable development and that it can also alleviate poverty. With countries focusing on sustainability and reduction in poverty social polarization can decrease to improve the standard living for citizens. However, this same international cooperation can increase social polarization but this would not occur within a country but between countries that are richer than others so care has to be taken when approaching the situation. Science and technology have the capability of contributing to sustainable development but it may result in social polarization between countries since some may not be able to afford it so they are “left out” of the group.   

All of the above shows that development is linked to inequalities, which is linked to social polarization that is linked to environmental degradation and it can start frm environmental degradation and end at inequalities. They are all connected as is social and environmental unsustainability and the attempt to become sustainable. 

* In Trinidad the poverty level, as stated by Minister of People and Social Development Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, is 21.8%. Ramadharsingh said the 2008-2009 global economic crisis had a major impact on the region, affecting the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many countries, and that his ministry was working towards curbing the poverty level. He listed ongoing and future programmes implemented by the Ministry of People and Social Development, such as temporary food cards, bus passes for the disabled, community walkabouts by ministry officials, expansion of counselling services, a task force for social inclusion and a job-coach programme for youths to address poverty (Guardian Newspapers 2012). These initives can be seen as ways to address the social polarization that is occurring in Trinidad and make it a country where all it’s people are treated equally to become a developed and sustainable nation.

If everyone cared about each other there would be no inequalities and the world will be a better place.

http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?documentid=52
Can read up more on Agenda 21 using this UNEP link. 

References:

Barraclough, Sara. 2005. In Quest Of Sustainable Development. The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/8b18431d756b708580256b6400399775/5ba838e26007676ec12570a1002ee441/$FILE/barraclough.pdf

Cheveldayoff, Wayne. 2000. The Business Page. Canadian Cataloging. United States of America.

Guardian Newspapers. 2012. Poverty Level 21.8%. http://guardian.co.tt/news/2012-05-23/poverty-level-218%E2%80%94minister

Hall and Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography. Routledge Publishing. London and New York page 309.

Roberts, J. Timmons and Amy Bellone Hite (eds.). 2007. The Globalisation and Development Reader. Oxford. Blackwell Publishing.