Sustainable Development: Environmental Aspects

Abstract

The basic principle of the term “sustainable development” consists in improving the quality of human life without destroying the natural environment (biosphere). Sustainable development is implemented when society consumes renewable (air, water, landscapes, biota) and nonrenewable (combustible, ore, and other minerals) natural resources of the Earth. The most important condition for sustainable development is the continuous renewal of life-sustaining resources, but now environmental management is developing without complying with this requirement, which inevitably leads to the depletion of resources, degradation of ecosystems, and a global ecological disaster. This paper discusses indicators of the current consumption of life-sustaining resources, which surpass permissible limits, and ways to prevent the impending catastrophe. A conclusion is made about the need for a transition to a fundamentally new strategy of environmental management based on rational consumption and reproduction of resources, as well as about the relevance of developing technologies for producing energy from nontraditional sources.