Finite Resources
It is clear beyond any doubt that we cannot continue to have such a large environmental impact . The impacts that we have caused so far will last for some years and immediate action is necessary and urgent to minimise problems for future generations . It is felt that the combustion of fossil fuels thirty years ago is responsible for our present weather patterns and that carbon dioxide released today will migrate to the upper stratosphere and have a major influence on global weather patterns in thirty years time. The ozone problem was recognised or acknowledged earlier than the greenhouse effect and the Montreal Protocol was accepted by most of the major countries of the world in 1987 (the UK ratified it in 1988) to phase out the use of CFCs. Some people have urged all countries to take great care of the environment. Gro Harlem Bruntland, when she was Prime Minister of Norway, lead a committee which introduced the concept of sustainable development and coined the phrase "we borrow the world from our children" . All of our activities influence the environment to a greater or less extent. It is difficult to think of any activities which have a beneficial effect or which might be considered environmentally friendly. It is probably more accurate to describe good practice as less environmentally damaging.
	The so called Earth Summit in RIO in 1992 gave significant exposure to the problems of such issues as global warming, biodiversity etc. and hence paved the way for responses from most governments. John Major, as the UK Prime Minister, committed Britain to the philosophy of Rio and in December 1997 the Labour Government agreed to the greenhouse gas reductions hammered out in Kyoto. The environment as an issue has been an uncomfortable one for politicians who have found that it does not usually attract votes and rarely finds support from big business. Fortunately this is gradually changing as we move to thinking about sustainable development. European governments , and the EU itself, are showing interest and concern for the environment . Let us first look at the concept of sustainable development and then examine what political and social measures have been and can be taken whilst keeping the economic question in mind.
Sustainable development is essential for the long-term survival of life and life styles, as we know them. There are many factors contributing to the destruction of our present way of life: population increase, depleted resources and pollution are the most important. Like many civilisations North American indians lived in harmony with their environment , taking from it only what they needed for their needs and leaving the rest for their own or suceeding generations future needs. This idyllic arrangement is impossible for us all to enjoy because of the size of population and the expectations that most of us have for travel, leisure, comfort , shelter etc. The worlds population is around six billion and is set to double in another 30 years. India will shortly overtake China as the most populous country on Earth; with over one billion people. The corporate giant Shell predicts that energy demand , following this population increase and greater personal aspirations may increase by 75% over the next 25 years. The attendant pollution problems from burning enough fossil fuels to meet this demand, even if the resources are available, could be catastrophic . We really could find ourselves in an unsustainable situation in a very short time. It is easy to dismiss this scenario as doom and gloom and it is tempting to ignore the problem and hope that it will not actually occur. After all we have heard these dark forecasts before. It is different now because we are much more aware of causal links between anthropogenic activity and the environment and because the scale of the problem is much greater due to the population and aspiration factors mentioned above.