"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Brundtland Report).
We often talk about sustainable development as a solution to many of our problems, especially the environmental related ones; it is a solution that could help us to improve and "clean up" our environment in a concrete way.
But what is sustainable development?
It is a form of development, ranging from the economic to the social sphere, which aims at preserving humanity from a rampant use of natural resources.
We increasingly hear that natural resources are scarce, that they will soon run out if men do not start to use them in a better and more responsible way.
In fact the main cause of environmental problems is man, who, though he is part of the environment, does not preserve it; though he’s worried about his own health, does not really bother about it.
Man is aware of the environmental problems and the strong impact they might have on him. He knows that, sooner or later, he will have to deal with these problems, but for the present he makes do with "apparent" remedies, which can be worse than the problems themselves since they can cover up the larger issues at hand. A few measure have already been devised to preserve nature, but they’re still insufficient.
One of these measures is The Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty on global warming and pollution which remains a giant step forward in the protection of nature and of man himself, even though it has not been ratified by the United States, one of the world's largest consumer of energy.
Man depends on the environment, he is linked to it by a much deeper bond than he believes. If this bond were dissolved, he could suffer greatly.
The goal of sustainable development, after all, is this: to maintain and to forge an even stronger bond with Nature in order not to break up our friendship with stupid and reckless actions. Many people are unaware of the indissoluble bond we have with nature, and if they ignore its existence they live as if it did not exist.
The fact is that it will not always be possible to ignore the problems looming on the horizon, so much so that many companies have already proposed energy saving programs. It is up to us, the ones who are environmentally friendly, to reach out to people who still are not.
It is precisely for this reason that our school has joined a Comenius Project the main purpose of which is to better understand environmental problems and their causes. It 's good that young people, the future of the world, understand what is weakening Nature and try to find a cure for it. Nature will be grateful for an act of courage and love. So, who is more suitable than us to help the environment? We are a courageous and responsible generation and we know that the best medicine is called "sustainable development"?
Sustainable development, in short, is not a far away and abstruse issue, which can only be dealt with learning the Kyoto Protocol or the Brundtland Report by heart,. It is quite close to our daily life. It speaks the language of energy. It feeds on ecology and breathes with the environment. It is so similar to a living being. In fact isn’t Nature as much of a living being as our cat? As such, we owe Nature the unconditional. respect we have always been given by her.
