Environment And Sustainable Development

With the dawn of the 21st century, we are confronted with two conflicting scenarios for the future of man kind. On the one hand, there are possibilities of a bright future with press button living, space shuttles, information technology, genetic engineering and such other advances in science and technology. On the other hand, a grim scenario is looming large with burgeoning population starved of resources and choked by pollution. Faced with such crucial situation wherein we stand at the crossroads in choosing between environment and development we feel the need of ‘Sustainable Development’. The concept of sustainable development means that the rate of consumption or use of natural resources should approximate the rate at which these resources can be substituted or replaced. It further requires that a nation or society is able to satisfy its requirements- social, economic or others without jeopardising the interest of future generations. The paper broadly tries to outline the basic concept of sustainable development, the world-wide activities initiated to deal with environmental problems and the major strategies that can be adopted by nations for sustainable development