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PubMed2005

Science and norms in policies for sustainable development: assessing and managing risks of chemical substances and genetically modified organisms in the European Union.

Use of chemical substances and genetically modified organisms cause complex problems characterised by scientific uncertainty and controversies. Aiming at sustainable development, policies for assessment, and management of risks in the two areas are under development in the European Union. The article points out that both science and norms play a central role in risk assessment as well as risk management and suggests that the precautionary principle, the principle of public participation, and the polluter pays principle, all adopted in the European Union, offer a way to operationalise the concept of sustainable development. It is shown, however, that a number of steps ought to be taken to better implement the principles through different policy measures. In doing so, and by recognising the role of both science and norms, the decision-making on risks related to the use of chemicals or genetically modified organisms can be improved to better promote sustainable development.

Chemical Industry↗

PubMed2002

10 years after rio-concepts on the contribution of chemistry to a sustainable development.

The principles of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, and Agenda 21, the comprehensive plan of action for the 21st century, adopted 10 years ago by more than 170 governments, address the pressing problems of today and also aim at preparing the world for the challenges of this century. The conservation and management of resources for development are the main focus of interest, to which the sciences will have to make a considerable contribution. Natural, economic, and social sciences will have to be integrated in order to achieve this aim. In their future programs, the associations of the chemical industries in Europe, Japan, and the USA have explicitly accepted their obligation to foster a sustainable development. In this review we investigate innovations in chemistry exemplarily for such a development with regard to their ecological, economical, and social dimensions from an integrated and interdisciplinary perspective. Since base chemicals are produced in large quantities and important product lines are synthesized from them, their resource-saving production is especially important for a sustainable development. This concept has been shown, amongst others, by the example of the syntheses of propylene oxide and adipic acid. In the long run, renewable resources that are catalytically processed could replace fossil raw materials. Separation methods existing today must be improved considerably to lower material and energy consumption. Chemistry might become the pioneer of an innovative energy technique. The design of chemical products should make possible a sustainable processing and recycling and should prevent their bio-accumulation. Methods and criteria to assess their contribution to a sustainable development are necessary. The time taken to introduce the new more sustainable processes and products has to be diminished by linking their development with operational innovation management and with efficient environmental-political control procedures.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Influence of farm resource endowment on possibilities for sustainable development: a case study for vegetable farms in South Uruguay.

In different parts of the world, there is an urgent need for redesigning and innovating farming systems. Such a process may be supported by model-based explorations that enable ex-ante evaluation of a broad range of alternatives. Since a variety of viable patterns of farm development exists related to farm resource endowment and farmer's strategy, model-based explorations should be able to capture the existing variation in resource endowment and strategies in order to have impact on strategic farm management. In this paper, we present an overview of the model-based explorative method based on the MILP model Farm Images, applied to explore options for sustainable development of vegetable farms in Canelón Grande, Uruguay. The method is used to gain insight into the impact of current farm resource endowment on the possibilities for sustainable development and on the resource use efficiency at farm scale. We maximized farm income for 128 different farm types in an environment-oriented scenario and in an income-oriented scenario. Farm types were defined by combining 4 farm sizes, 2 labor endowments, 4 irrigation endowments, 2 soil quality combinations and 2 mechanization levels. The results demonstrate a strong impact of farm resource endowment on possibilities for sustainable development, as well as synergy between labor, land and irrigated area on resource-use efficiency at farm scale. Farms with 10ha of land or less, representing 47% of the farms in the Canelón Grande region, could only achieve a family income higher than the average income of Uruguayan families when the irrigated area was ca. 40% of the farm area. The achievement of environmental targets was less costly in terms of income on farms with a low rather than high labor availability per unit area and on farms with irrigation facilities.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2002

Vietnam and the sustainable development of the Mekong river basis.

Vietnam is a riparian country located in most downstream area of the Mekong river basin which is also shared by other states namely China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. While the Central Highlands of Vietnam has a great potential for hydropower development in tributaries of Mekong river, the Mekong delta in Vietnam territory is rich in natural resources which are favorable for agricultural development. However, besides local constraints which being gradually remedied by Vietnam, the development of the Mekong delta is subject to, in both terms of quantity and quality, availability of water resources which relates to the water use of or discharge into the river of upper riparians. With a view to co-developing these resources in a sustainable and mutually beneficial manner, Vietnam has cooperated with other states through framework of the Mekong River Commission set up by the 1995 Mekong Agreement. This paper describes the strategy and action plan applied by Viet Nam National Mekong Committee to reach the sustainable development of the Mekong river basin in general and of Vietnam parts located in the Mekong basin in particular.

Agriculture↗

PubMed1999

Health, environment and sustainable development: identifying links and indicators to promote action.

This paper discusses the links among health, environment, and sustainable development and presents a framework that extends from the epidemiological domain to the policy domain and includes the driving forces that generate environmental pressures, creating changes in the state of the environment and eventually contributing to human exposures. Health effects are the end result of this complex net of events. Environmental health interventions should not be limited to treatment of cases and directly reducing human exposures. The paper discusses the need for integrated action at all levels and, in particular, on the need to focus on long-term action directed at reducing the driving forces that generate the environmental health threats. Only this approach can achieve sustained health benefits and environmental protection in accord with the principles of sustainable development.

Decision Support Techniques↗

PubMed2002

Sustainable development pattern and the strategy in the three Gorges Reservoir Areas.

The development pattern, development situation, and existing problems of land exploitation in Zigui County, Three Gorges Reservoir Areas of China were presented. The sustainable development mode and its strategy in the Three Gorges Reservoir Areas was also discussed. A sustainable development framework for low mountain regions, middle mountain regions and high mountain regions was developed, and management countermeasures for structural optimization of complex ecosystems were advanced.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2003

[Theoretical analysis on comprehensive national power for sustainable development].

The connotation of comprehensive national power (CNP) was studied, the relationships between CNP and other related notions were comparatively analyzed, and the process for the study of CNP was reviewed. Based on the principles of sustainable development and the idea of ecosystem services, the concept of comprehensive national power for sustainable development (CNPSD) was proposed, and the main significance of CNQSD was discussed.

China↗

PubMed1999

Integrating data for sustainable development: introducing the distribution of resources framework.

A complex, information-rich world requires frameworks that organize data to reveal succinct views and interrelationships. The goal of sustainable development requires a particularly large range of data covering many disciplines--economic, environmental, social and institutional. This paper introduces the Distribution of Resources (DOR) framework. DOR explicitly quantifies the changes in our natural and produced resources and traces the use of resources through production and consumption efficiency to distribution as welfare. The DOR framework accommodates many of the recognized concepts and principles of sustainable development resulting in a comprehensive policy-focused framework with a more extensive range of desirable features than other frameworks developed to date.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

PubMed2005

Comparing environmental issues in Cuba before and after the Special Period: balancing sustainable development and survival.

Following the Earth Summit in 1992, Cuba designed and implemented a variety of programs, administrative structures, and public awareness activities to promote sound environmental management and sustainable development. This came shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union and the strengthening of the US blockade in 1990, which resulted in a 35% drop in Cuban GDP. This period, referred to as the Special Period, witnessed a decrease in many environmentally damaging activities both by choice and by necessity, but also resulted in many decisions to resuscitate the Cuban economy. The purpose of this work was to compare and rank the environmental risks Cuba faced before and during the Special Period (1990-2000) using two Comparative environmental risk assessments (CERAs). To do so, an ecosystem integrity risk assessment matrix was constructed with 42 risk end points. The matrix assessed the risk posed by 17 problem areas including air pollution, water contamination, solid waste sites, pesticides and ecosystem degradation. The risks were calculated using five criteria: area affected, vulnerability of affected population, severity of impact, irreversibility of effect and uncertainty. To construct this matrix, both literature reviews and expert interviews in Cuba were conducted in 2000. The results showed a general decrease in risk scores during the Special Period. Before the Special Period, high risks were posed by: terrestrial degradation and industrial wastewater and sludge, followed by freshwater degradation, surface water stressors, and pesticides. After the Special Period, industrial wastewater and sludge and pesticides were no longer high-risk areas, but municipal wastewater and marine coastal degradation ranked higher than previously. Also, the risk endpoints most stressed after 1990 were affected by activities controlled by the government, such as mining and tourism, and lack of infrastructure. Therefore, the claims that public environmental education is the main pathway to sustainable development in Cuba seem uninformed and other management practices should be evaluated.

Cuba↗

PubMed2001

[Allelopathy in sustainable development of agriculture].

Allelopathy in agriculture was summarized. For sustainable development of agriculture, inhibitions and simulations of allelopathy as some new measures were put forward and suggested to apply reasonably and effectively, so as to improve some techniques about crop straws returning into soil, cultivation measure, crop rotation and bio-control of weeds and insect pests.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2002

[On eco-ethics and sustainable development of natural resources].

In this paper, definition of natural resources was discussed at first, and chief characteristics of natural resources were concluded and summarized systematically. Then, in point of eco-ethics, relationship between natural resources and human was discussed. Human in the contemporary era should hold the responsibilities and commitments to remain abundant resources for survival and development of the offspring, and it is the same important to meet the requirement of human in the contemporary era and the offspring. Bringing eco-ethics into the practice of protection, exploitation, and sustainable development of natural resources has very important theoretic and practical significance undoubtedly. Therefore, approaches and main measures to sustainable development of natural resources were also discussed in this paper.

Ecology↗

PubMed1999

[An Internet-based "distance" learning for health, environment and sustainable development "distance learning without a frontier"].

Quality of the environment is crucial for human health. Environmental hazards may lead to adverse health effects, while a sound environment can support of enable health. It has been clear that health and environment must be understood within the context of social and economic development, which was stressed especially in the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. Investing in improvement of people's health and their environment is a prerequisite for sustainable development. The telecommunication revolution enables distance learning without frontiers in a reansparent and interactive environment. Applying the Internet and other telecommunication into public health including environmental health holds the greatest promise for global health. A wide application and access would facilitate and expedite the reduction of inequity prevailing between the south and north in an unprecedented speed. This proposed course is thus designed to provide an overview on health and environment in sustainable development through the Internet.

Environmental Health↗

PubMed2004

"Nature" and "environment" in German and Portuguese sustainable development strategies for Johannesburg 2002.

The recent Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development was an important symbolic moment, in spite of the poor results some people claim to have emerged from it. The very fact that official written texts were produced for a wide discussion in many participating countries is a positive side-effect, as it enables the almost unique possibility of using parallel corpora for the analysis of the respective language and underlying assumptions. This could lead to the identification of some potential causes for conflicts and misunderstandings. Both texts were produced according to a (supposedly, at least) common intention, so they may be seen as functionally equivalent. In spite of that, there are obviously huge differences, not only in extension, but also in the type of lexical combinations and stylistic features used. Words like ambiente, in the Portuguese language, and Umwelt, in German, as well as natureza/Natur, appear in very different lexical environments, so that one can, by means of a distributive methodology, obtain a picture of what might be intended with their use in the two countries. Another issue brought about by this analysis was a reflection on the concept of "foreign" language. This raises the question not only of knowing whether, or to what extent, written texts like these are really intended to have an effect on (local) people's minds, but also about pragmatic/cultural constraints that have influenced their very shaping.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

PubMed2002

Health and sustainable development: can we rise to the challenge?

The forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development is an unprecedented opportunity to place health higher on the environmental and development agenda. The world's leaders will be grappling with some of the major challenges of our times--how to eradicate poverty and meet the world's development needs in a way that does not destroy the environment. Topping the agenda are water, energy, health, agriculture, and biodiversity. Improvement of access of the world's poor people to clean water, sanitation, and safe sources of household energy would have a huge effect on the main killers of young children--pneumonia and diarrhoea. Similarly, improved environmental management could substantially affect many infectious disease outcomes. At the same time, the growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases could be reversed if people's consumption patterns and lifestyles could be put on a more sustainable and healthy footing. A shared health, environmental, and development agenda could address the large share of the burden of disease that is environmentally related, and vice versa. The health sector increasingly needs to work in partnership with others rather than work alone. New tools are needed to ensure that intersectoral action becomes embedded in the way that the health sector does business. Improving coordination might be one of the most important ways in which we can help put the planet back on a healthy and sustainable path.

Congresses as Topic↗

PubMed2001

Using sustainable development indicators as a supplementary measure for the integrated management of environmental information system in Taiwan.

Environmental Information System (EIS) transfers environmental data and information to audiences in any field of knowledge or activity interested in environmental problems. Currently, numerous conventional EISs or Environmental Databases (EDs) are available in Taiwan. However, they fail to adequately address the strong correlations among the environmental, social and economic components. Notably, Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) combine environmental, social and economic dimensions, as well as illustrate the links among systems. Subsequently, developing a set of SDIs will provide an excellent opportunity to systematically consolidate the information scattered among many archives, as well as promoting an integrated EIS. This work presents an experimental model referred to as the 'Sustainable Development Information System of the Island Taiwan' (SDISIT). This system was developed to assist the integrated management of either EIS or ED. The Factor Analysis Method (FAM) is one tool that may prove useful in easing the developing process. Furthermore, by examining the correlations between the indicators, this method can apply existing SDIs to identify the structure of interrelationships among indicators.

Databases, Factual↗

PubMed2006

Democracy and sustainable development--what is the alternative to cost-benefit analysis?

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is part of neoclassical economics, a specific paradigm, or theoretical perspective. In searching for alternatives to CBA, competing theoretical frameworks in economics appear to be a natural starting point. Positional analysis (PA) as an alternative to CBA is built on institutional theory and a different set of assumptions about human beings, organizations, markets, etc. Sustainable development (SD) is a multidimensional concept that includes social and ecological dimensions in addition to monetary aspects. If the political commitment to SD in the European Union and elsewhere is taken seriously, then approaches to decision making should be chosen that 1st open the door for multidimensional analysis rather than close it. Sustainable development suggests a direction for development in a broad sense but is still open to different interpretations. Each such interpretation is political in kind, and a 2nd criterion for judging different approaches is whether they are ideologically open rather than closed. Although methods for decision making have traditionally been connected with mathematical objective functions and optimization, the purpose of PA is to illuminate a decision situation in a many-sided way with respect to possibly relevant ideological orientations, alternatives, and consequences. Decisions are understood in terms of matching the ideological orientation of each decision maker with the expected effects profile of each alternative considered. Appropriateness and pattern recognition are other concepts in understanding this process.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

PubMed1994

Sustainable development is healthy development.

Economic growth has brought with it substantial environmental damage. Nature has been abused and little consideration has been given to the consequences, among them the adverse effects on health. Healthy people are vital for local development that is both economically and ecologically sound. The health sector should be actively involved in the movement for sustainable development. What this would require in practice is considered below, with particular reference to the quality of life in regions of tropical forest.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

PubMed1992

Governments map out population and sustainable development strategies for twenty-first century.

The 4th Asian and Pacific Population Conference, which began on 19 August 1992 in Bali, Indonesia, concluded on 27 August with ministers and other high-ranking officials from the majority of countries in the region adopting a Declaration containing policy recommendations for Governments to follow in their efforts to achieve environmentally sustainable population and development goals into the next century. The objective of sustainable development is to meet human needs and aspirations in balance with population resources and the environment, and to enhance the quality of life today and in the future, according to the Bali Declaration on Population and Sustainable Development. Rapid population growth, changes in demographic structure and uneven population distribution have caused considerable damage to the environment, natural resources and economic and social conditions. The Conference reviewed the population situation in the region and established guidelines for population and sustainable development into the 21st century. The results of the Conference will also be used as a regional input for the International Conference on Population and Development, scheduled to be held in 1994 at Cairo, Egypt. Commenting on the Declaration, the ESCAP Executive Secretary, Mr. Rafeeuddin Ahmed, said that the decisions taken by the Conference put strong and unmistakable emphasis on poverty alleviation, on the interactions among population, the environment and consumption, and on the strategic linkages between population and sustainable development. Besides dealing with a host of population issues, the Declaration proposes a number of goals and policy recommendations to be considered by government policy makers. It also sets specific targets for countries with rapid population growth to reduce their fertility and infant mortality rates to replacement level (2.2 children/woman and 40/1000 live births, respectively) and to half the number of maternal deaths by the year 2010.

Asia↗