Role of Science in Building a Better World
Case Study for Africa :
Global change is creating enormous challenges for humanity. The world's population is expected to grow from nearly 6 billion today to 8.5 billion by the year 2025. Global energy requirements will continue to increase. The newly industrialized countries of Asia and Latin America are experiencing very rapid economic growth that is bringing modern society's environmental problems, including air and water pollution and waste problems, to wider areas of the globe.
The ecological problems caused by human economic activity are worsening and taking on global dimensions. Climate change, ozone-layer depletion, and loss of forest cover are important examples. At the same time, social conditions continue to worsen in many developing countries. It is estimated that more than 1 billion people now live in poverty without sufficient food, adequate educational opportunities, or any possibility of political participation.
Although financial and economic markets are becoming more and more interconnected and we like to think in terms of a global village efforts to enshrine environmental protection and development as the common task and responsibility of all countries have just begun to make headway.
The key aim for the 21st century is sustainable development through modern science, which the international community embraced at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. Sustainable development seeks to reconcile environmental protection and development; it means nothing more than using resources no faster than they can regenerate themselves, and releasing pollutants to no greater extent than natural resources can assimilate them.
If we are to move toward sustainable development, the industrialized countries will have to accept special responsibility not only because of their past ecological sins, but also because of their present technological know-how and financial resources. Nonetheless, one must keep in mind that sustainable production and consumption involve not merely technical progress, but also cultural patterns of individual behavior and values comes to bear in this process.
The key is to serve the traditional link between economic growth and the consumption of resources, which increasingly threatens the natural basis for life and the preservation of natural and landscape diversity.
There are several possible ways to achieve environmental compatibility in lifestyles and economies. Technical and scientific innovations provide excellent prospects for environmental protection. Contemporary in this 21st century, industrial society is becoming a knowledge-based society. It is vital that we use our growing knowledge and capabilities responsibly, and that we use them in the interest of environmentally appropriate development. Science must play an important role in the pursuit of sustainable development.
The kind of science and technology needed for realizing a more equitable, prosperous and sustainable world for all, I believe is energy and its humane usage by global population, the key technologies of sustainable development include new energy and propulsion technologies that will help reduce emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases.
Simply to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations at twice their postindustrial levels, the world will also have to reduce current global greenhouse emissions by over 50%.. Achieving this goal involves focusing on improved thermal insulation in buildings, on the use of heat/power co-generation, and on efficient support for the use of renewable energies.
Currently the most progress is found in the area of wind energy; in the medium term, the use of solar energy, with photo-voltaic technology, will continue to grow in significance. An honest consideration of our options indicates that we cannot afford to discontinue peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Finally, my vision for the future of science are enormous but cardinal among them is that of a Biotechnology, biotechnology I believe would bring important advances in medical diagnosis and therapy, in solving food problems, in energy saving, in environmentally compatible industrial and agricultural production, and in specially targeted environmental protection projects.
Genetically altered microorganisms can break down a wide range of pollutants by being used, for example, in bio-filters and waste water-treatment facilities, and in the clean-up of polluted sites. Genetically modified organisms can also alleviate environmental burdens by reducing the need for pesticides, fertilizers, and medications.
Indeed I would also conduct a research and in-depth studies on the sustainability of this area of science, as strategic aim, involves optimizing the interactions between nature, society, and the economy, in accordance with ecological criteria.
However, political leaders and scientists alike face the challenge of recognizing inter-relationships and interactions between ecological, economic, and social factors and taking account of these factors when seeking solution strategies.
In conclusion, to meet this challenge, decision-makers require inter-disciplinary approaches and strategies that cut across political lines. Environmental science discussions must become more objective, and this must include, especially, debates about the risks of new technologies, which are often ideologically charged. In light of the complex issues involved in sustainable development, we need clearer standards for orienting and assessing our environmental policies. In this context I consider the current work on indicator models as a means to assess and monitor the success of sustainability strategies, to be of great importance for positive advancements of societies and humanity .
Case Study for Africa :
Global change is creating enormous challenges for humanity. The world's population is expected to grow from nearly 6 billion today to 8.5 billion by the year 2025. Global energy requirements will continue to increase. The newly industrialized countries of Asia and Latin America are experiencing very rapid economic growth that is bringing modern society's environmental problems, including air and water pollution and waste problems, to wider areas of the globe.
The ecological problems caused by human economic activity are worsening and taking on global dimensions. Climate change, ozone-layer depletion, and loss of forest cover are important examples. At the same time, social conditions continue to worsen in many developing countries. It is estimated that more than 1 billion people now live in poverty without sufficient food, adequate educational opportunities, or any possibility of political participation.
Although financial and economic markets are becoming more and more interconnected and we like to think in terms of a global village efforts to enshrine environmental protection and development as the common task and responsibility of all countries have just begun to make headway.
The key aim for the 21st century is sustainable development through modern science, which the international community embraced at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. Sustainable development seeks to reconcile environmental protection and development; it means nothing more than using resources no faster than they can regenerate themselves, and releasing pollutants to no greater extent than natural resources can assimilate them.
If we are to move toward sustainable development, the industrialized countries will have to accept special responsibility not only because of their past ecological sins, but also because of their present technological know-how and financial resources. Nonetheless, one must keep in mind that sustainable production and consumption involve not merely technical progress, but also cultural patterns of individual behavior and values comes to bear in this process.
The key is to serve the traditional link between economic growth and the consumption of resources, which increasingly threatens the natural basis for life and the preservation of natural and landscape diversity.
There are several possible ways to achieve environmental compatibility in lifestyles and economies. Technical and scientific innovations provide excellent prospects for environmental protection. Contemporary in this 21st century, industrial society is becoming a knowledge-based society. It is vital that we use our growing knowledge and capabilities responsibly, and that we use them in the interest of environmentally appropriate development. Science must play an important role in the pursuit of sustainable development.
The kind of science and technology needed for realizing a more equitable, prosperous and sustainable world for all, I believe is energy and its humane usage by global population, the key technologies of sustainable development include new energy and propulsion technologies that will help reduce emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases.
Simply to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations at twice their postindustrial levels, the world will also have to reduce current global greenhouse emissions by over 50%.. Achieving this goal involves focusing on improved thermal insulation in buildings, on the use of heat/power co-generation, and on efficient support for the use of renewable energies.
Currently the most progress is found in the area of wind energy; in the medium term, the use of solar energy, with photo-voltaic technology, will continue to grow in significance. An honest consideration of our options indicates that we cannot afford to discontinue peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Finally, my vision for the future of science are enormous but cardinal among them is that of a Biotechnology, biotechnology I believe would bring important advances in medical diagnosis and therapy, in solving food problems, in energy saving, in environmentally compatible industrial and agricultural production, and in specially targeted environmental protection projects.
Genetically altered microorganisms can break down a wide range of pollutants by being used, for example, in bio-filters and waste water-treatment facilities, and in the clean-up of polluted sites. Genetically modified organisms can also alleviate environmental burdens by reducing the need for pesticides, fertilizers, and medications.
Indeed I would also conduct a research and in-depth studies on the sustainability of this area of science, as strategic aim, involves optimizing the interactions between nature, society, and the economy, in accordance with ecological criteria.
However, political leaders and scientists alike face the challenge of recognizing inter-relationships and interactions between ecological, economic, and social factors and taking account of these factors when seeking solution strategies.
In conclusion, to meet this challenge, decision-makers require inter-disciplinary approaches and strategies that cut across political lines. Environmental science discussions must become more objective, and this must include, especially, debates about the risks of new technologies, which are often ideologically charged. In light of the complex issues involved in sustainable development, we need clearer standards for orienting and assessing our environmental policies. In this context I consider the current work on indicator models as a means to assess and monitor the success of sustainability strategies, to be of great importance for positive advancements of societies and humanity .
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