REDUCING,POVERTY THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL

                                          SUSTAINABILITY.

In this article I want to brief more about the Reducing, Poverty through Environmental Sustainability. I was happy when I found this topic as one of the goals that MDGs to achieve.  

Sustainability Environment is the keeping of the environment, the natural resources, the forestry, the wildlife and the everything that can be found in this physical world around us to meet the present generation and also the future generation as well. It is a very important issues that every country must focus because it our habitat. We live in the environment, and all our activities are done on it.

Reducing poverty and fostering human development are fundamental prerequisites for achieving sustainable development. Growing inequity within and across countries is a troubling trend which, if not addressed soon, will lead to greater social conflict and an increasing rate of ecosystem deterioration. There is a need to address these issues in novel ways. We need to move away from conventional responses relying on the fruits of economic growth trickling down to the impoverished, to policy responses that embrace broader participation, greater opportunities and more empowerment of the poor in their own development process.

Since 1992, IISD has sought to provide these responses through policy analysis; intelligence gathering; impacts assessment and modeling; and public engagement and outreach. This approach recognizes the need for constructive global engagement at the international level combined with strong national policies and action by individuals.

It is  believes that the most effective actions for reducing poverty and fostering human development are those that integrate the sustainable management of ecosystem services, the promotion of economic development and ensuring social equity within a single comprehensive framework. Implementing these actions requires the use of a wide range of tools—from public participation techniques to integrated assessment tools—to understand the complex nexus among constituents of well-being, ecosystem services, institutions and the Governments.

Environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking action that are in the interests of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life. It is an important topic at the present time, as people are realizing the full impact that businesses and individuals can have on the environment. Thanks to the MDGs for adding this topic to the goal in Post 2015.

Environmental sustainability is about making responsible decisions that will reduce your business' negative impact on the environment. It is not simply about reducing the amount of waste you produce or using less energy, but is concerned with developing processes that will lead to businesses becoming completely sustainable in the future.

Currently, environmental sustainability is a topical issue that receives plenty of attention from the media and from different governmental departments. This is a result of the amount of

research going into assessing the impact that human activity can have on the environment. Although the long term implications of this serious issue are not yet fully understood, it is generally agreed that the risk is high enough to merit an immediate response. Businesses are expected to lead in the area of environmental sustainability as they are considered to be the biggest contributors and are also in a position where they can make a significant difference.

Some disadvantages of the Environmental Unsustainability include:

·damaging rainforests and woodlands through logging and agricultural clearing

·polluting and over-fishing of oceans, rivers and lakes

·polluting the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels

. damaging prime agricultural and cultivated land through the use of unsustainable farming practices

Poor and marginalized people are more reliant on the environment for their livelihoods and therefore the impact of environmental degradation is more strongly felt (in terms of health, income, and more). Today the interconnections between human well-being and the environment are well understood thanks to studies such as the Millennium Assessment. Still, there is need to generate clear suggestions on how to reflect these connections in the post-2015 agenda. In the consultations so far, there was much talk of breaking the MDG silos but what are the inter-linkages between poverty reduction and environmental sustainability that could be articulated in the next agenda?

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, this need-and the work of the joint UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative on linking poverty reduction and environmental protection-is thrown into sharper focus.

With more than a billion people living in absolute poverty, with inequality levels between countries and within countries steadily rising, and with the degradation and loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning continuing apace, the need to place sustainability at the heart of the development agenda and vice versa, has never been greater nor more urgent.

Poverty can be reduce in my opinion when the following will be put in place: Acknowledging rights, Alleviating affluence, Education and capacity-building, Improving basic services, Meaningful jobs, Economic reforms, Strengthening livelihood strategies and increasing options and Alleviate poverty through environmental protection.

Most countries in the world have accepted that sustainable development is an essential development pathway and are busy incorporating its principles into their own policies and programs. The United Nations has taken sustainable development very seriously and it has established specialist units to deal with the issue and to identify opportunities and activities to support this development theory. I believe this issue will dealt with to meet the presents generation and the future generation as well.

According to The Great Nelson Mandela he says “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.” Thank you.

 REFFERENCE:

 Zehra Aydin and George Bouma 

IISD

United Nations Environmental Program.

Best Regards

Owusu Francis

Ghana

Email:owusufrancis20@yahoo.com

+233(0)271326697

Sustainability Environment.docx