Online version: PDF - DTIE

032
UNIT 1: WHERE DO WE STAND? THE STATE OF THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Sustainable
development
calls for business
and industrial
activity that
makes more
efficient use of
resources and
materials, and
reduces the
output of
pollution – solid
waste, liquid
effluents, noise
and emissions.
Sustainable
development
is about
responsible
entrepreneurship,
product stewardship,
long-term
planning and
‘doing more with
less’.
2.2 Broad Implications for Sustainable
Development
Sustainable development, as defined by the Brutland Commission, is ‘development
that meets the needs of the present generation, without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own’.
This does not mean that business and industrial activity must be halted, for
the needs of the present generation have to be met. Business must continue to
prosper and to be profitable. Rather, sustainable development calls for business
and industrial activity that makes more efficient use of resources and materials,
and reduces the output of pollution – solid waste, liquid effluents, noise and
emissions. This will help future generations to continue to develop sustainably,
rather than inherit an earth stripped of resources and burdened with pollution and
waste.
Sustainable development cannot be achieved by action in industrialised countries
alone. Admittedly, a large share of the world’s resources is consumed, and a
major proportion of global waste generated, through business expansion and
consumption in industrialised countries. But reducing use of resources and
pollution in these countries alone will not be sufficient if resource intensity and
pollution increase in industrialising countries: environment problems are not
contained within geographical boundaries. Climate change and biodiversity
loss threaten life on the whole planet, while acidification and air and water
pollution are causing impacts in areas far away from the points of discharge.
Sustainable development strategies have therefore to be country-specific, based
on economic and industrial activity, social setting, natural resource base, and
levels of environment degradation and population growth.
2.3 What does Sustainable Development
mean for Tourism and Hospitality?
Sustainable development is about responsible entrepreneurship, product
stewardship, long-term planning and ‘doing more with less’. The environment is
the tourism industry’s key resource – eliminate a clean and healthy environment
and you eliminate tourism.
To be sustainable, tourism businesses need to reduce the use of resources and the
output of waste and emissions through, and together with, a range of environment
management and monitoring activities. The framework for such activities is
discussed in Unit 2.
S
E
C
T
I
O
N
2