Theme: Environment and Sustainability
Topic 1. Sustainable development
A.

Sustainable Development
Sustainability: An important concept in maintaining the human population, health and
environment.

In 1990, Shearman proposed that socio-economical and ecological balance emphasizes a
relationship of perspectives addressing ecologically sustainable development.
B.

Meaning of Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development (SD): A development meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World
Commission on Environment and Development, United Nations, 1987).

‘Development’ refers to the continued improvement of the living standards by economic
growth.

The whole concept of sustainability refers to such improvement without sacrifice of our
environmental qualities.

Government and other sectors of the society have to work together.

Sustainability is first applied to economic activities: sustainable yield in forestry and
fisheries. Read the relevant information on ‘active resource management’ in theme ‘Earth
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Resources’.

The concept is extended to sustainable ecosystems, in which the entire natural systems
persist over time by:
— Recycling nutrients,
— Maintaining a diversity of species in balance, and
— Using Sun as a source of sustainable energy.
Suggested Student Activity:
Information search and report: a traditional industry incorporating sustainability in its
practice.

In human society, sustainability refers to:
— Sustainable society, in which it is in balance with the Mother Nature indefinitely.
— The resources never reach complete depletion by practicing sustainable yield.
— Although pollutants are generated by human activities, these pollutants are not
produced in excess of natural & human means of removing / absorbing them in
recycling in the biosphere.
— The latter can be specifically called environmental sustainability.

To achieve sustainable development, we have to balance interests for several parties as
shown in the following diagram.
Economy
Resources
Society
Environment
Sustainable Development
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
Sustainable development needs to:
—
Balance social, economic, environmental and resource needs, both for present and
future generations.
— Simultaneously achieving a vibrant economy, social progress and a high quality
environment, locally, nationally and internationally, through the efforts of the
community and the Government.
C.

Sustainable Development in Hong Kong
Finding ways to increase prosperity and improve the quality of life while reducing overall
pollution and waste,

Meeting our own needs and aspirations without doing damage to the prospects of future
generations; and

Reducing the environmental burden we put on our neighbors and helping to
preserve common resources (According to "1999 Policy Address").
Characteristic features include:

Improving the living standard for human beings by economic growth.

Conserving and managing the resources for indefinite supply for human consumption.

The importance of protecting the resources, the control of pollution and management of
wastes generated by human beings is emphasized.

A balance between human economic development and the conservation of the
environment is emphasized.
D. Importance of Maintaining Biodiversity
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
Conservation of environment includes maintaining the biodiversity.

Biodiversity is at 3 levels: ecosystem diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity.

The most effective means to protect biodiversity is by habitat protection.

By carrying out the conservation practice, this will
— Create new business opportunities and rooms for further development.
— Create new jobs.
— Provide a clean environment for human beings, one of the species, to live; as the
natural ecosystem actually helps the energy flow and element cycles.
— Provide learning ground for human intelligence and human technology.
 We actually learn from nature or steal the wisdom from nature for the
development of new technologies. Examples: The streamlined shape of plane
from a bird body.
 In wastewater treatment, we use microorganisms for the secondary treatment.
E. Contribution from Science and Technology to “Sustainable
Development”

Science is the way that we learn and study the basic principles of Nature.
— Logical thinking should be applied in solving present and future problems.

Technology focuses on the knowledge of protocols, skills, tools and products.

Due to resource consumption and pollutant generation, economic growth is anyway a
disturbance to nature.

The very least measure is to adopt a less damaging / environmentally friendly /
environmentally sound technologies to fulfill the human needs.
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Sustainable technologies aim at (Romanoff, 1990 cited in Makofske & Karlin, 1995):

Maximize the carrying capacity of the natural resource;

Invent or discover substitutes of earning livelihoods that do harm to the environment;

Promote the restoration of damaged ecosystems;

Prevent, control and/or mitigate adverse environmental impacts; and

Indirectly improve natural resource use by reducing poverty, increasing educational levels
and stabilizing population growth, etc.
Suggested Student Activities:
Role play: discuss the practicability of converting waste to energy as a means to solve local urban
wastes.
Debate the incorporation of sustainability into design and manufacturing industries.
Study a report from or interview an environment prize-winning company on its practice on
sustainability.
Technologies to achieve sustainability:

Sustainable agricultural, fishery and forestry practices.
—
Conservation of land and water resources.
 In Hong Kong the country park or protected land actually covers the region
where natural aquatic bodies locate.
 Dripping systems in irrigation under microprocessor control are used in
agricultural system throughout the world.
—
Biopesticides, that are natural products used in organic farms (They are
degradable and the elements are recycled in the ecosystem)
—
Organic farming: employ natural ecosystem concepts in production of crops.
—
Use of agricultural and industrial waste
 The world’s most popular strategy for solid waste treatment is mushroom
cultivation.
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
Solid waste is bioconverted into edible products, e.g. use of chicken
manure and straw for the cultivation of the button mushrooms.
—
Use renewable energy to reduce the demand on non – renewable energy including
fossil fuels.

Pollution Prevention & Control
—
During 2000, Hong Kong produced over 45,000 tonnes of solid waste every day.

With 18,000 tonnes of that daily waste deposited at local landfills, these
facilities are being filled up much faster than planned.

—
Great pressure is being exerted on current waste facilities.
To make Hong Kong a sustainable city, the development of recycling industry is in
urgent need.

Recycling involves sorting of usable materials from wastes as raw materials
and manufacturing the recycling items, e.g. recycling paper.
—
Incineration is a technology to use combustion to greatly reduce the bulky volume
of wastes.
—
In the combustion of coal to generate electricity, sulphur is converted into sulphate
and the compound is sold.
—
Wastewater treatment

In secondary treatment of wastewater, microorganisms are used as they
consume the wastes as nutrients for growth.
—
Constraints for Hong Kong to apply biotechnologies: no advanced and well –
developed biotechnologies invented / introduced for support,

Therefore Hong Kong is handicapped by an underdeveloped recycling
industry.
—
Yet for waste management, reduce and reuse are the very important concepts to
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reduce waste generation and relieve the load for waste management.
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