Biodiversity Offset

Crucial For The Future

By Karla Gae Pascua

Albert Einstein once said that, in order for mankind to survive, people should develop a substantially new manner of thinking. For decades since, world leaders have sought this “new manner of thinking” until finally they came up with a viable answer—sustainable development.

Sustainable development is a strategy by which communities seek economic development approaches that also benefit the local environment and quality of life. Where traditional approaches can lead to congestion, sprawl, pollution and resource over-consumption, sustainable development offers real, lasting solutions that will strengthen the future.

More simply put, sustainable development provides a framework under which communities can use resources efficiently, create efficient infrastructures, protect and enhance quality of life, and create new businesses to strengthen their economies. It can help create healthy communities that can sustain this generation, as well as those of the future.

Communities of the future will be very different from the communities of today. They’re different because of a whole new set of socio-economic, technological, and global forces. Prime movers will need to understand such forces, and only by applying this understanding can communities be sustained and benefit from an increasingly complex future.

While sustainability has its roots in the environmental traditions of the past, it is also greatly influenced by forces unique to this decade. These forces include limited resources, urbanization, scientific knowledge, technology, social awareness, and health & safety requirements. All of these should be acknowledged for their impact on and potential opportunities for the community. Properly harnessed, these forces can play important roles in achieving the goals of sustainable development.

Benefits of sustainable development
Sustainable development is good business from social, economic, and environmental perspectives. When tied to a community's vision, it can successfully resolve many key issues faced by communities today. Within the context of the existing environment, sustainable development is especially effective in a tangible way.