Academic Essay Contest
Valeriia Safonova
4thВyear student
International Relations Department
Sustainable development: reality or utopia
In any epoch human society faces an amount of definite problems. Nowadays, humanity hopes that the idea of sustainable development is able to improve the world. Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Although some people claim that sustainable development ensures better present and bright, safe future, I believe it is utopian in current terms and will not solve all the problems of humanity.
An amount of people is convinced that sustainable development is a chance to shape the world, society has always dreamt about. Firstly, sustainable development programmes promote economic growth. People are given more opportunities to find decent jobs. ВAccording to the International Labour Organization, “It is estimated that over 600 million new jobs need to beВВВВcreated by 2030, just to keep pace with the growth of the global working age population. That’s around 40 million per year.” Moreover, sustainability fights poverty. World Bank study in 2013 states that “721 million fewer people lived in extreme poverty ($1.25 a day) in 2010 than in 1981…” Secondly, sustainable social projects improve quality of medical care, education, and life conditions. For example, according to the dataofВthe Programme for International Student Assessment, the proportion of population with higher education in developing countries with below-average income has grown from 11.2% up to 15.7% for recent years. Besides, special exchange programmes allow students to live, work, and study for some time abroad and return there for working. They are also available for professional career training. For instance, Internship US, CIEE, and others. Thirdly, sustainable development programmes ensure environment protection. ВGreen Facts site gives the data that “The global average for growing stock is 110 m3Вper hectare and has not changed significantly over the last 15 years.” AsВtheВUnited States Environmental Protection Agency reports, “From 1970 to 2012, aggregate national emissions of the six common pollutants alone dropped an average of 72 percent while gross domestic product grew by 219 percent.ВThe emissions reductions have led to dramatic improvements in the quality of the air that we breathe.” As a result, sustainable projects have improved the quality of living.
However, sustainable development projects do not solve current obstacles successfully. Firstly, economic growth is remarkable for developed countries only. As International Labour Organization states, nowadays “Global number of children in child labour… is 168 million children”. “More than half of them,85 million, are in hazardous work.” The videoThe World We Want - The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals,published in YouTube, mentions that “Right now 7 million people live in poverty. 73 million young people are unable to find a job.” Secondly, the indices of world social development are low. According to the dataof the Programme for International Student Assessment which was held in 2006, about 60 percent of participants showed poor result. ВGlobal Economic Symposium site claims that “Across the world, 1.3 billion people have no access to effective and affordable health care.” Thirdly, environmental problems are becoming more serious with every year. The World Counts site presents the information that “Every year, an estimated 2.2 billion tons of waste is dumped in our oceans” and that “The ocean level has raised up to 17 sm for the 20thВcentury. More than that 80% of diseases in developing countries happen because of bad quality of water. Thus, sustainable development programmes are only ideas without strong practical base, and humanity is deteriorating rapidly.
Despite the opposite opinion, humanity is experiencing a deep crisis. Europe is an example of world’s regions that suffer from serious problems. The movement of separatism is spread all over Europe. The societies of Italy, Spain, Great Britain are divided into opposite groups which have different political views on the structure of these countries. Terrorist groups are activating. The migrant crisis has reached dangerous level. The war on the South-East of Ukraine has already been lasting for 2 years. It causes the split among European and other governments and makes political situation in the international arena strained. Furthermore, demography of various countries shows negative statistics. The increase of the movement for same-sex marriages sends a concerned signal of a social crisis. The rise of such families will decrease population as same-sex families are unable to give birth to their own children. More than that, scientists claim that national aging has achieved its highest point. Young people are aimed to make careers and marry in their 40s. This tendency means that the age when they can give birth to children shortens. Finally, the problems of the young prove instability in society. Young people are considered one of the most receptive social groups. Some countries, such as Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, have legalized for people the use of the definite drugs for medical purposes. Therefore, these actions will increase the amount of drug addicts among the young. In addition to that, the quality of education demonstrates a low level.ВAs a result, the world is experiencing a difficult period in its history.
Taking everything into account, society has faced a lot of obstacles which must be solved in short terms.ВToday, they include terrorism, separatism, local armed conflicts, ecological changes, a high level of unemployment, extreme poverty, and many others. ВSustainable development projects are a step to the decision, but they have not achieved necessary results and are only theoretical conceptions.
References:
1. (2015), ‘Population growth’,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth, last accessed 25 October 2015.
2. (2015), ‘The Programme for International Student Assessment’,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment, last accessed 25 October 2015.
3. (2015), ‘The International Labour Organization’,http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang--en/index.htm, last accessed 25 October 2015.
4. (2015), ‘The World Bank’,http://www.worldbank.org/, last accessed 25 October 2015.
5. (2014), ‘YouTube:The World We Want - The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals’,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR-YRC5D-QY, last accessed 25 October 2015.
6. (2015), ‘The World Counts’,http://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/Facts-About-Environmental-Issues, last accessed 25 October 2015.
7. (2015), ‘Global Economic Symposium’,http://www.global-economic-symposium.org/knowledgebase/the-global-society/financing-health-care-for-the-poor/proposals/improving-access-to-health-care-for-the-poor-especially-in-developing-countries, Вlast accessed 25 October 2015.
8. (2015), ‘Green Facts’,Вhttp://www.greenfacts.org/en/forests/l-2/2-extent-deforestation.htm, last accessed 25 October 2015.
9. (2015), ‘TheВUnited States Environmental Protection Agency’,http://www2.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/progress-cleaning-air-and-improving-peoples-health, last accessed 25 October 2015.