Sustainability as a whole is defined as ‘’Meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations’’. The three main components of human existence are

  • Social
  • Economica
  • Ecological

Both the words (Environment and Sustainability) are correlated and have significant impact on each other. According to World Health Organization 24% of the deaths occurred due to avoidable environmental factors around the world. Air, water and land are the basic components required for the survival of any human being. Not only have the human beings, all living organisms have a right to survive in a suitable and pure environment. Sustainability could not be achieved in a one night stand, everyone should act responsibly and play its role to conserve natural resources and promote a healthier and safe environment.

Water scarcity is the biggest challenge that will be faced by our future generations. Almost half of the world population will be living in areas with high water stress by 2030. According to United Nations World Water Development Report, one fifth of the world’s population lives in areas characterized by physical water scarcity.  Thus, water conservation, reuse and recycle must be promoted to save water as saving water is another word for saving life. 

As concluded from different researches an ever increasing emission of greenhouse gases will cause a rise in temperature by 02 °C by 2050. Glacier and polar ice melting is the major cause of global warming and the melting rate is 2-3 times higher than that of last century. Due to these environmental changes earth is going through major biodiversity loss that will significantly impact the ecosystem.

Due to these changes in climatic conditions animals like Markhor, Indus river dolphin, Asian Black bear, Snow Leopard and ten more species are declared as Endangered and are near to extinction. Apart from impacting humans amount of non-degradable waste is increasing by the minute and few of the dangerous recalcitrant are accumulating in the food chain and is thus resulting in extinction of species.

Short term targets had left a long term effects on the ecosystem. Anthropogenic activities are posing a drastic effect on the environment. Almost every country is affected by deforestation and land degradation.  Food security is another big issue faced by the mankind. Organic farming and sustainable agricultural practices must be adapted to overcome this issue.

Waste management is another threat to our ecosystem. Human cannot live without generating waste but sustainable waste management practices must be adapted to conserve the natural resources. Waste prevention, recycling, reuse and recovery are important waste management strategies that eases the burden on landfills, conserve natural resources and save energy. Industries are implying the 3R strategy of Reduce, reuse and recycle waste to save the environmental degradation.

Therefore the only slogan to promote healthy environment is

‘’Act Responsibly!! Save Nature, Save Life, Promote Sustainability’’

 

About the Author: Syeda Zainab Abbas is an environmentalist and an auditor, specifically working on sustainability and water stewardship.