Promoting natural cycle and environmental resilience: A pathway toward sustainable development

Abstract

Disruption of ecosystem, following biodiversity loss, have all been attributed to climate change. Sustaining the natural cycle, amid environmental vulnerability, is a great task facing many nations today, most importantly, developing countries of the world. Several measures, earlier proposed in the literature, appear not to have mitigated the overbearing impact of climate change, in which their resultant catastrophes are now prevalent and unprecedented. The use of natural resources to produce lighter weight materials for building and automobile industries, have helped to conserve fossil fuel energy, no doubt, but this is without its shortcomings. These natural resources, which ought to be protected, are now been encroached, and in some cases, being a harbor for modern innovation. Adaptation of natural resources as a conservative measure, requires a synergy and clear-cut approach in the material value chain, in order to produce a comparative lighter component part. The use of biodegradable materials as the replacement part in many metallic materials, remains the best approach, no doubt, but how do we protect and conserve these natural resources, as they are being depleted for energy saving measures? In this scientific paper, the authors review existing practices, leading to environmental vulnerabilities and several measures fueling climate change crisis. Substantial part of the contributing factors are material composition and energy use. As human activities increase, the attendant interference on biodiversity and environment would be far-reaching and unpredictable, resulting in further disruption in the ecosystem. Natural resources, being our last resort, is now faced with extinction of large scale, and it is now of essence to bridge the identifiable gaps before the mother nature is completely destroyed. Some of these effects have already been felt in climatic weather changes, land degradation, greenhouse gas emission, contamination of underground water and biodiversity loss. The other leg of the gap is energy use, and how effective would developing and emerging countries leverage on energy transition in the face of technological and trust rivalry among nations of the world? This paper provides further measures in tandem with current realities, on how some of the existing conservation methods could be reinforced, in the light of myriad of ecological challenges threatening human existence. If natural resources, i.e., natural fibers, were to be used as energy saving measures, what would be the replenishment strategies and environmental impact assessment of such action, considering the dependence of man on these natural resources? Findings and conclusions drawn from this paper could be useful to researchers and would-be stakeholders in the climate adaptation policies and several other interest groups on preservation advocacy.