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Challenges of Achieving Sustainable Development
http://www.content-articles.com/Challenges-of-Achieving-Sustainable-Development/a15865_1
Kevin long
 
By Kevin long
Published on 09/14/2009
 
The catastrophic failure of incorporating environmentally friendly ways of achieving development could lead to the extinction of life on earth. Therefore it is the moral and social responsibility of every individual and business to work towards achieving this goal.

Challenges of Achieving Sustainable Development
The first UN conference that addressed the progress in achieving sustainable development took place in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio. Even though this concept came into a broader discourse through the World Commission on Environment and Development, it was the Earth Summit that gave this idea center stage in global public policy debates. Over the years, sustainable development has become one of the most talked about concepts. Sustainable development may have turned into a key phrase frequently used in public policies, but achieving it on a global level will take more than just paperwork.

The concept of sustainable development consists of three basic elements: social equity, environment and economic development. Countries all over the world are actively participating in creating a sustainable future. However, there is a lot of complexity involved in connecting these elements as there are difficulties in achieving all three at the same time. There is no doubt that business organizations and groups need to keep on doing good work in order to enhance quality of life. From developing well-organized ways of managing natural resources, human settlements, waste and chemicals to attaining sustained economic growth, there are numerous ways to ensure sustainable development, globally.

Sustainable development may have gained tremendous attention all over the world due to the Internet; it is still not easy to summarize this concept. If simplified, sustainable development would be recognizing ways to meet present needs through development without causing harm to the society and environment. It is essential to make people understand this idea at the national, international as well as local level. Since everyone has their own ideas of how to achieve sustainable development through good work (http://www.justmeans.com/editorials/sustainabledevelopment/7.html) , a single decisive approach is required to bring all efforts on a single platform.

Apart from groups and individuals, it is the moral responsibility of business organizations all over the world to rethink their existing policies in order to come up with better ways of achieving sustainable development. They need to realize that if resources are used without considering future needs, the planet will no longer be able to sustain human life.