Sustainable development
The concept of sustainability is of extreme importance today. Not only is it a sign of a country’s positive environmental approach, it is also an indicator of continuous development. Sustainability is becoming a prime concern of every nation gradually, both developing and developed. This is evident from the simple fact, that instead of just GDP, today, progress is measured even by an international body like UN using a criterion that includes sustainability as its main component (Costanza et al., 2016). Sustainability emphasizes growth that is continuous, doesn’t harm the nature and focuses on preserving natural resources. It represents overall advancement of a nation. The goal of sustainable development is neatly highlighted by Emas (2015) as follows
“The overall goal of sustainable development (SD) is the long-term stability of the economy and environment; this is only achievable through the integration and acknowledgement of economic, environmental, and social concerns throughout the decision making process.”
We discussed various countries based on their sustainable development level in Module 4. The balance between the levels of development of some countries against their use of natural resources was explored in-depth. In the main assignment of this Module, I examined the economical vectors of Sweden, Slovenia and Suriname by ranking them with regards to their sustainability. Sweden was assessed to be the most sustainable with digitalization, literacy and employment at high levels along with good management of natural resources. Slovenia came next followed by Suriname at last. We also discussed Russia as a highly unsustainable economy and how its government has taken no measures to ensure any sustainable efforts regarding its population or resources. One reason for this was the absence of democracy and presence of communism. No particular interest was being taken by any associations, governmental or non-governmental toward sustainable development.
In Module 5’s main assignment, we discussed India’s economy and resources and their position in relation to sustainability. Industrialization in the country was found to be responsible for low water quality and high level of air pollution. In addition to this, the rising population of the country was found to be putting high strain on its abundant natural resources. The government interventions were found to be lacking in efficiency to create any impact on controlling these problems. Thus, even though resources in a country like India are plenty, lack of efficient use has depleted its resources...