What Is Long-Term Sustainability?

Sustainability refers to a process or state that can be maintained for a long time. The sustainability of human society is composed of three interconnected and inseparable parts: ecological sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability.

Sustainability

Human beings are at the centre of the issues of sustainable development that are of great concern. ^[1]

Development is human right

Sustainable development highlights development, which is a common and universal right of mankind. Both developed countries and developing countries should enjoy equal and inalienable right to development. For developing countries, development is even more important. Facts show that developing countries are experiencing dual pressures from poverty and ecological degradation. Poverty leads to ecological degradation, which in turn exacerbates poverty. Therefore, sustainable development is the first priority for developing countries. Only development can solve the disparity between the rich and the poor, the rapid increase in population and the ecological crisis provide the necessary technology and funds, and eventually move towards modernization and civilization.

Environmental protection and sustainable development are closely linked

Sustainable development regards environmental construction as an important part of achieving development, because environmental construction can not only create many direct or indirect economic benefits for development, but also escort development and provide suitable environment and resources for development; sustainable development Take environmental protection as one of the objective criteria for measuring the quality, level and degree of development, because modern development and reality rely more and more on the support of the environment and resources. Before people fully understand sustainable development, the environment is developed along with traditional development. With the rapid decline of resources, the support that can be provided for development is becoming more and more limited. The faster the development, the more important the environment and resources are; environmental protection can ensure the ultimate goal of sustainable development, because modern development is no longer just For material and spiritual consumption, we will make unremitting efforts to build a comfortable, safe, clean and beautiful environment as an important goal to achieve.

Legitimate environmental rights

Sustainable development believes that everyone has a legitimate right to the environment in terms of environmental protection. Environmental rights and obligations are relative. They are a right to others and an obligation to themselves. People's environmental rights and environmental obligations are equal and unified. This right should be respected and upheld by others.

Abandon the traditional way

Sustainable development requires people to abandon traditional production and consumption methods. It is to resolutely change the traditional mode of development in a timely and resolute manner-first to reduce and then eliminate the mode of production and consumption that cannot sustain development. On the one hand, it requires people to input as little as possible and produce more while producing; on the other hand, it requires people to use as much as possible and reduce emissions when consuming. Therefore, we must correct the past mistakes of simply increasing investment, increasing consumption to achieve development, and increasing output at the expense of the environment, so that development is less dependent on limited resources and more organically coordinated with environmental capacity .

Seeking to speed up new technologies for environmental protection

Sustainable development requires accelerating the development and popularization of new environmental protection technologies, resolving environmental crises, changing traditional production methods, and consumption methods. The fundamental way out is to develop science and technology. Only by making extensive use of advanced technology can the energy consumption and material consumption per unit of production be greatly reduced, a development mode of less input and more output, a reduction in dependence on resources and energy, and a reduction of environmental pollution loads.

Generally raise people's environmental awareness

Sustainable development also requires a general increase in people's environmental awareness. The premise of implementing sustainable development is that people must change their traditional attitude to nature-that is, from the utilitarian point of view, for my use, as long as it is needed for human beings, it can be developed and used at will. Instead, a new concept of modern civilization should be established, that is, to readjust the relationship between man and nature from an ecological point of view, and treat human beings as just an ordinary member of the big family in nature, so as to truly establish a new brand of harmony between man and nature The idea is that it depends only on individual people and a few people. It only makes the public conscious behavior. Therefore, environmental education must be suitable for sustainable development.

Sustainability is a problem faced by all mankind, and it determines our future life. Only if all human beings have a common sense of protection and action will our future be no longer terrible.