CGC1P
Sustainable Development
Name:_________________
Period:___
Sustainable development means different things to different people, but the most frequently
quoted definition is from the report Our Common Future (also known as the Brundtland Report):
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Sustainable development focuses on improving the quality of life for all of the Earth's citizens
without increasing the use of natural resources beyond the capacity of the environment to supply
them indefinitely. It requires an understanding that inaction has consequences and that we must
find innovative ways to change institutional structures and influence individual behavior. It is
about taking action, changing policy and practice at all levels, from the individual to the
international.
Sustainable development is not a new idea. Many cultures over the course of human history have
recognized the need for harmony between the environment, society and economy. What is new is
an articulation of these ideas in the context of a global industrial and information society.
Progress on developing the concepts of sustainable development has been rapid since the
1980s. In 1992 leaders at the Earth Summit built upon the framework of Brundtland Report to
create agreements and conventions on critical issues such as climate change, desertification and
deforestation. They also drafted a broad action strategy—Agenda 21—as the work plan for
environment and development issues for the coming decades. Throughout the rest of the 1990s,
regional and sectoral sustainability plans have been developed throughout the world. A wide
variety of groups—ranging from businesses to municipal governments to international
organizations such as the World Bank—have adopted the concept and given it their own
particular interpretations. These initiatives have increased our understanding of what sustainable
development means. Unfortunately, as a 1997 review of the goals set at the Earth Summit
demonstrated, progress on implementing sustainable development plans has been slow.
1
Define the concept of ‘Sustainable Development’ in your own words:
2
Why do you think this concept important for industries, governments and
business?
3
What implications for the long term success of any industry if their development
is not sustainable?
What Is Industry?
Many people think of industry as the collective large-scale manufacturing of goods in
well-organized plants with a high degree of automation and specialization. Although this
is a common example of industry, it can also include other commercial activities that
provide goods and services such as agriculture, transportation, hospitality, and many
others. Industry can be classified into different categories or levels for a better
understanding of the different types and for making it easier to study. Although many
school textbooks list only three levels, more advanced books classify industry into five
levels. The terms for each level originate from Latin words referring to the numbers one
to five.
Levels of Industry
Primary (first): Primary industries are those that extract or produce raw materials from
which useful items can be made. Extraction of raw materials includes mining activities,
forestry, and fishing. Agriculture is also considered a primary industry as it produces
“raw materials” that require further processing for human use.
EXAMPLES of jobs:
Secondary (second): Secondary industries are those that change raw materials into
usable products through processing and manufacturing. Bakeries that make flour into
bread and factories that change metals and plastics into vehicles are examples of
secondary industries. The term “value added” is
sometimes applied to processed and manufactured items since the change from a raw
material into a usable product has added value to the item.
EXAMPLES of jobs:
Tertiary (third): Tertiary industries are those that provide essential services and support
to allow other levels of industry to function. Often simply called service industries, this
level includes transportation, finance, utilities, education, retail, housing, medical, and
other services. Since primary and secondary levels of industry cannot function without
these services, they are sometimes referred to as “spin-off” industries. Much of the city
of Thompson, for example, is made up of tertiary or service industries to support the
primary industry of mining.
EXAMPLES of jobs:
Quaternary (fourth): Quaternary industries are those for the creation and transfer of
information, including research and training. Often called information industries, this
level has seen dramatic growth as a result of advancements in technology and electronic
display and transmission of information.
EXAMPLES of jobs:
Quinary (fifth): Quinary industries are those that control the industrial and government
decision-making processes. This level includes industry executives and management
and bureaucrats and elected officials in government. Policies and laws are made and
implemented at this level.
EXAMPLES of jobs:
Structural Transformation of Economic Sectors
The distribution of the workforce among the three sectors of an economy can progresses through
different stages at different times as follows:
First phase: Traditional civilisations – Canada 1600’s to 1900
Workforce quotas:
Primary sector: 70%
Secondary sector: 20%
Non-Industrual society...
Tertiary sector: 10%
This phase represents a society which is not yet very scientifically developed, with negligble use of
machinery. The state of development corresponds to that of European countries in the early Middle Ages,
or that of a modern-day developing country.
Second phase: Transitional period – Canada 1900 to 1980’s
Workforce quotas:
Primary sector: 20%
Secondary sector: 50%
The rise of the Industrial Revolution…
Tertiary sector: 30%
More machinery is deployed in the primary sector, which reduces the number of workers needed. As a
result the demand for machinery production in the second sector increases. The transitional phase begins
with an event which can be identified with industrialisation: far-reaching mechanisation (and therefore
automisation) of manufacture, such as the use of conveyor belts.
The tertiary sector begins to develop, as do the financial sector and the power of the state and government.
Third phase: Tertiary civilization – Canada 1980’s to today…
Workforce quotas:
Primary sector: 10%
Secondary sector: 20%
The rise of the computer age…
Tertiary sector: 70%
The primary and secondary sectors are increasingly dominated by automisation, and the demand for
workforce numbers falls in these sectors. It is replaced by the growing demands of the tertiary sector. The
situation now corresponds to modern-day industrial societies and the society of the future, the service or
post-industrial society. Today the tertiary sector has grown to such an enormous size that it is sometimes
further divided into an information-based quaternary sector, and even a quinary sector based on non-profit
services.
Questions:
1. When was Canada in each of the three phases
mentioned above?
2. Create three bar graphs showing the
Structural Transformation of Economic Sectors
changing through time.
3. What trend appears in your graph?